Family we make
by jane210
Summary: Nahuel's family is growing. When Renee became Joham's latest experiment; he must try to save the life of his sister and her mother. Staying hidden has always been a way of life for them, what happens as they expose them selves to more Vampires, making friends and foe along the way. Who will stand with them when danger strikes? NOT a story w/ B growing up w/ the Cullens E&B in time
1. trust me

**_AN: Thanks for giving my story a try – I hope you let me know what you think, good or bad!_**_ This is my first story and I am trying to clean it up. I could use all the help I can get so let me know what mistakes you see and I will do my best to fix them! _

**_N - P.O.V_**

I wish I could have stopped him before he started, before he doomed another. I move closer when he is in a busy area, the scents and sounds around him hind my presence. I eavesdrop from a distance, in an attempt to find out when he's leaving.

He is a predator of the worst kind. Draining humans is one thing but worse than that he forms relationships with them. He "dates" them, for sometimes months, before he strikes. He plays his role well gaining their trust, devotion and love.

If they live through the experience, he will not try a second time. It is too high of a risk if he has already impregnated her. Then within days five or six at most he will know if he has been successfully. Either way, he has sentenced her to death. If she is pregnant she will have a slow painful death. If not at least it will be quick, drained and left somewhere no one will find her. The ones unlucky enough to have a slow death are abandoned with a promise of his return, a work trip or family emergency explains his absence. He leaves them for dead just like he did with my mother.

_According to my aunt, my mother was left in the woods miles from her home after he realized she was in fact pregnant. Huilen had followed my mother, Pire, when she left the village in search of her Libishomen lover. When she found him, he told her not to return to her village. He would be back for her after I was born and they would live together forever as libishomen with the child she was carrying. _

_Distraught over her sister weakened condition Helen refused to leave my mother's side. My mother had been so sure that she would survive and her lover would return to her. While, Huilen believed that I would kill my mother. Of course Helen was right, I tore myself from my mother's body killing her. In the process stole my loving aunt's life as well. _

_I remember it all, panicking when everything tightens around me, struggling to free myself, and then I was lost to the bloodlust. I bit Huilen has she tried to pull me from my mother's body, she dropped me and fled, as fed I on my mother. When I awoke from the haze, I realized that I was barely out of the womb and had already taken two lives. _

_It took me over a day to crawl to Huilen's changing body. When she woke from the change, she kept the vow made to her sister and cared for me like I was her own. _

_Huilen did not realize what she had become until it was too late. Bloodlust took over; she killed seventeen friends and family before she awoke from her haze. She grabbed me and ran for hours before finally stopping when she broke down crying. After the crying ended, all of her movements came to a halt. She sat leaning on a tree, facing the river, sill as a stone._

_I sat on the ground near Huilen and waited, unsure of what to do. Unable to ignore my thirst I moved to the riverbank, I was leaning down to try to drink when she awoke at last. In a move so fast that I almost missed she had sprung onto the back of a large black caiman alligator, which was stalking me. With her new unknown strength she accidentally removed his head. I drank caiman rather than the river and that was how we inadvertently learned to survive without killing humans._

I shake my head trying to rid myself of the memory of my past and force myself to concentrate on the monster sitting at the table below my rooftop perch.

He considers him self a scientist, having come up with the idea of creating vampire-human hybrids. I can only imagine how many girls he has killed in the name of science. He still slips and drains or mutilates most of the women he uses while attempting to create more hybrids.

With his improved senses he picks the healthiest females, strong, pretty and never younger than twenty or older than thirty. Once the woman has been impregnated, the fetus inside her grows much faster than human fetuses. The fetus is also extremely strong; it easily and often destroys its own existence by killing the mother before it can survive outside of the womb. The fetus grows to full term one month after conception. It uses its own strength and teeth to break out of the contracting womb, when labor begins.

This results in the death of the mother, as the damage is too much for her body to take even with modern medicine. I have tried six times to prevent the death of both child and mother and have saved one child.

This time I'm lucky he hasn't left town yet, meaning I'm early enough to help keep her healthy. In the past I have always been too late finding them dead already or too close to death for me to save them.

A woman sits down next to him with a quick kiss on the cheek. I move as close as I dare, hoping hear them. She rambles on about nothing of importance, as she looks over the menu. She has not yet noticed the changes in her own body; his nostrils flare trying to pick up changes in her scent. He has asked how she has been feeling; she replies that she is well. That one question and the look on his face is enough for me to believe she is pregnant.

After some conversation over coffee and dessert they walk hand in hand down the street like any normal couple. I already know where they are going, so I don't follow them fearing that he will find me.

Several hours later I'm waiting on their rooftop. I hear the back door of the complex begin quietly shutting, then I see him run off into the woods without a back words glance. I know that he has left, not just the apartment, but both mother and child. He won't return till after the birth of the child and destruction of its mother, in hopes of picking up his youngest science experiment. Joham, my father, has just left Renée Higginbotham to die on her own while in love with a man who is incapable of love.

~o~

It took me very little time to befriend Renée. I had moved myself into an apartment just down the hall the day after Joham left town. I stopped by asking if I could have some ice because my ice-maker was broken. Renée started chatting away, almost an hour later with ice in hand we went back to my apartment for smoothies. Lucky for me I had already had the liquid pre-mixed, so she would not question the contents.

After spending that morning with her I had most of her life story. She was born and raised in Wiscasset, Maine, a very small coastal town of almost four thousand. Renee only had two hundred and thirteen other kids in her high school. When she graduated everyone assumed she stay in town and marry her high school sweetheart. However, Renée had planned on going to college in Dallas, Texas. She needed to get out of that small town; she wanted the big city life and the sun in her face. After turning down Jack, her parents were livid and she left for Dallas in her truck and the rather larger trust fund from her deceased grandfather. The money could only be used for higher education until the age of twenty-five, after that the rest would be at her disposal.

She came down to Belize to do humanitarian work and fell in love with life on the beach. She finally found work at one of the many hotels as a day care worker. At the age of twenty-seven she has happily sold her small beach cottage and moved in with "Jon", who may or may not be the one. Only now he will be traveling for work over the next three to four weeks. I learned all this on just the first morning with Renée. I can imagine what Joham must have thought when he first met her; strong, right age group, so trusting and beautiful as well.

After that first morning we would meet at the park and people watch. She felt sorry for me, because I look so young and was in an unfamiliar country all-alone. I mostly stuck to versions of the truth when telling her about myself. My mother had in fact died giving birth to me, my aunt raised me, I do have on younger half-sister at home, and I had come to the area searching for my father. All of what is true, my younger sister Aurora is at home with my Aunt. I just failed to bring up the part where my aunt is almost one hundred and fifty-seven years old. Aurora, my sister is only five years old but physically could pass for fifteen or sixteen. I also left off the fact that her boyfriend Jon is my biological father Joham, whom from what I have gathered is around four hundred and fifty years old. Although I may look eighteen I am old enough to be her great-great grandfather.

A week later Renée finally told me that she thought she was pregnant.

She had called Jon, he returned her call right away. Telling her a story about his family having a history strange pregnancies and not to worry if things seamed moved along rather fast. With his genes the gestation time could a short as six weeks.

She told me she had never heard of such a thing but as long as he would be back before the due date she would do as he said by not going to the doctors. Renee's trusting nature baffled me, but I told her that I would stick by her side until Jon made it home.

I slowly began to ask her more questions about Jon, what did they do together? What his favorites were? What did he do for a living? How did he like living by the beach? Did Jon like the sun and heat of Belize? What did she think the baby would look like? Would it have her eyes or his? What about the name for the baby his last name or hers? I had quietly over the weeks tried to keep him in the front of her mind. Pointing out, as many of the differences that I could, without telling her who and Jon what was.

I had also been sneaking into her apartment at night to talk with the child while Renée slept.

I told it about our family and how we hunt animals. It's brother and sister would love it no matter what. I told stories of growing up with Aunt Huilen in the Amazon rain forest. Meeting the Amazon coven, Kachiri, Senna and Zafrina. How they never interact with humans or other vampires other than my family. And about the magic pictures that Zafrina can show us with her mind.

I told the child to move as slowly and gently as possible until it was time to come out. That no matter what happens we would be a family. I would do everything that I could to keep it and Renée safe. Soon we would leave Belize and head back to my family home in the jungle.

**_B- P.O.V._**

I hear the other voice again. It's deep and very soft compared to the other voices I hear.

It tells me, " I will get us out of here, soon. You'll be safe, I promise."

I don't know why it only comes when "Mommy" has not been heard for a while, but I never hear them together. Sometimes he talks for a long time, telling me about the things he has seen and the people he has met along the way.

Other times, like tonight, he just says something short like "be gentle with your mommy."

It's quiet once more other than the steady, lub – dub, that is always with me. I shift around slowly, trying to move without making Mommy hurt. The constant lub-dub stays the same and I know I did it.

I stay still as long as I can; it feels like a long time, longer than I had to wait between, Mommy talking and the deep soft voice. I can't sit still any longer I have to move. I shift a bit to one side but the lub-dub speeds up and I stop.

"Oh baby, do you always have to wake me by sitting on my bladder? Every time it's always the same. I know you are trying to be a good baby, almost all the bruises are gone now. . ."

Mommy keeps talking and now she is moving around mumbling about all the things we have to do before I come.

~o~

Now we are at his loud place again, I hear many voices and other sounds.

"Hello Nate, how are you this morning?" Nate is very nice he always talks about me and asks Mommy how I am doing.

"I'm great Renée, how are you and the little one?"

"Oh we are doing fine today, what do think of the name Waverly?"

"Waverly, huh is that for a boy or a girl?"

"Oh, don't be silly of course it's for a girl!" she giggles.

"What would you call her, Wave? You keep coming up with some of the strangest names. What was it yesterday, oh yes Nero for a boy? By the way I looked up Nero last night you were right about it begin Roman. He was the emperor who played the fiddled while Rome burned, also his birth name was Lucius."

"I guess Nero is out for a boy but, I kinda like Lucius."

"I am telling you, as some who was named Nahuel after a tribal word for a jungle cat, stick with the classics."

"Hmm, you may be right, when I get home I should look up the name of Kings and Queens."

"Right, well Renée here's your smoothie and I put the leftovers in a second cup for you to have with lunch. I'll sop by and see you later. I have lots to do this morning."

"Thanks so much Nate, bye now."

~o~

A loud bang wakes me from my sleep, I must have moved too fast or stretched too far that time. I can feel Mommy rubbing my foot telling me not worry it's just the door. I always feel so much stronger when Mommy drinks her smoothies. Nate tells me to take it easy on Mommy but he the one that gives her the smoothies that make me so strong. She had two so far today. So I am feeling very strong and don't have much room to move around in here. The lub-dub speeds up, I hear Mommy mumbling quietly but I can't make out the words. She gets louder saying,

"No, no, no– Shit! What am I going to do now? I guess it's time to call Jon again. Not like he will answer anyway."

I hear and feel her move around, then some odd beeping noise.

"Jon, what the hell you told me this place was yours and that we could stay for at least a year without having to worry about rent. It's bad enough that you leave me for work while I am having some freaky pregnancy. Now, I have to find some place to stay in the next two days. I am so pissed at you I can't see straight, some father you will be. I will let you know where I am when I find a place to stay."

Then she lets out a big sigh.

"Don't worry baby I will figure this all out we are going to be just fine. Even if it's just you and me, we don't need Daddy anyway. I don't know how but I will figure it out but I always figure it out somehow, maybe. . ."

She keeps talking and walking, I try to stay still because the lub-dub is still going really fast.

**N – P.O.V.**

I had the messenger deliver the very well foraged eviction notice to Renee's apartment. I waited while she paced and mumbled to herself then she began to rant loudly. Then she called Jon reading him the riot act to his voicemail. I have to move before he calls back. I count to thirty and dial. I am sure she did not even look to see who was calling because she answered the phone yelling that I better not think that just because she has money he can be some dead beat dad and leave her high and dry.

"Hey, you okay? I was just heading out to get some dinner and wanted to see if you needed me to pick up anything or maybe come with me?"

"Sorry Nate, I thought you were Jon. Umm sure come on by then we can head out, you know I can't cook anyway. I am going to change, the door will be open" I can't be sure if she is laughing or crying now between the sniffing and giggles.

"Alright, see you in few."

I hung up the phone and headed over to her place. When I got to her place I grabbed her phone and shut off the power then removed both the battery and SIM card. Then placed it back where I found it on the counter.

Renée and I left for a café down the street. She stayed quiet while we walked down the busy street. We arrived she requested a booth near the back. The hostess a woman in her late fifties looked at her with concerned eyes. After we placed our orders, she let the tears fall.

"I just don't see how I can do this alone Nate, I mean I have begun to see that I don't know Jon as well as I thought I did but . . . A baby on my own? How am I going to pull that off and what about the strange genes he was telling me about? I mean what will this baby even be like, how am I going to take care of it, I don't know what to expect? And it's getting so big so fast I just don't know what am I going to," I had to cut her off at this point she was almost hyperventilating and bordering on hysterics.

"Just take a deep breath, good now let it out slowly. Good, keep it up, in and out, nice and slow. You have to calm down you don't want the little on getting up set do you?"

She needed to calm herself before the baby gets stressed and starts kicking up a storm and we were starting to draw the attention of the other customers.

"You're right, I know when the baby gets worked up my ribs pay the price," She said. Still breathing deep and slow, and the tears had slowed down some now.

"Okay now tell me what happened, we can come up with a plan to work it all out." I needed to know what she was thinking her next move maybe so that I could make it work with my plan.

"I guess that I am just freaking out. I have not heard from Jon in like almost two weeks. The last time we talked he promised to be in touch and made me promise not to go to the doctor. I mean who does that, what kinda father tells you not to go to the doctor when you're pregnant. Then I got an eviction notice and . . . And. . . How. . " Stopping her again.

"Ok, first things first when do you have to leave of the apartment?" Of course I know she has till tomorrow at six in the evening. After her quick reply I told her she was more than welcome to stay with me. After some back and forth about not wanting to hassle my family or me; she agreed. Now moving on to the tough stuff.

" So you have not heard from Jon at all, after he told you about the genetics that may cause the abnormal pregnancy?"

"No." She let out a small sigh "I mean do you think that he knows? This is just. . . I don't know, the bruises and the fast growing when he said 'strange' this is not what I had in mind. Not that I ever really saw myself as a mother but its only been like three weeks and I just – what am I going to do?"

"Listen to me, take a deep breath. Good now, I know you said not to talk to anyone about the strange aspects of the pregnancy but I mentioned some of it to Huilen. She told me that she knows of old stories that have similarities to what you're going though. We think that we can help you and your baby," I say softly.

She stares at me wide-eyed then takes an another deep breath and lets it out slowly. I give her some time to process what I have said. She knows very little about my aunt but I am hopping that she remembers that she is obsessed with tribal legends and all things supernatural.

"Your aunt thinks, what's that, um, well, I, yeah, do you think?" she barely spits out.

"Why don't we just talk about this back at my place? Just know that you are not alone, and you don't have to try to do this by yourself."

We rapidly ate our meal. Renée looked contemplative, I could almost see her going over the short list of odd things about Jon in her head. She would open her mouth to speak many times only to snap it shut and look around the café. When we finished our meal we walked back to the apartment complex in a very stifling silence.

After I made Renée her nightly smoothie, we sat on the sofa she was still not speaking. She simply stared straight ahead looking at nothing. After what felt like hours, she looked over to me and spoke.

"What's going on? I don't think that it's just your Aunts funny superstitions. I think that you know a lot more that what you're letting on to."

"I do," I said in a soft voice. She rolled her eyes and took a big breath before continuing on.

"I want answers not just, to know that you know what's going on. You have to tell me the truth. You have always been so sweet and kind from the start. Now, I see that you have known what's going the whole time, You knew, you know – but I don't." She is right of course, I do know and have known the entire time I have been friends with her.

"Yes, I'm aware of many things that you are not. Many things that _humans_ can't know about for their safety. I did approach you with the knowledge that you have been exposed to the supernatural world. However, the real question is do you still trust that everything I have told you is true? I have left out many details but never told you a lie. I have always done what I can to keep you and your little one safe."

She looks away, staring into the nothingness again. I give her time to think about what I am asking.

Still looking straight ahead, she answers. "Yes. I believe you live with your aunt and younger sister. I do believe that you were here looking for your father and I think – hope you are trying to keep me safe," Renée said, as she turned and looked at me with a watery small smile.

Maintaining eye contact as I ask the most important question.

"Do you trust me? Do you trust me enough to keep you and the little on safe a while longer? Then I vow to answer all of your questions."

"I, um well, it's not like I have much of a choice," she said with a small huff.

"Okay, just a bit longer and you'll know everything. I want you to go back to your apartment gather some clothes and what matters most to you. Once we leave, it will be a long time before we come back if ever." Her eyes widened and she stood and walked out of the apartment.

.

.

**_an: Please, please, please review and thanks for reading!_**

_This is my first story and I am trying to clean it up. I could use all the help I can get so let me know what mistakes you see and I will do my best to fix them! _

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	2. vampire

**_Chapter 2 -vampire_**

**_N-P.O.V._**

The door shut behind Renee. I move at full speed, grabbing the few sets of clothing I had brought with me. Then checked to be sure that I have all the documents Renée and I need for travel in my backpack. I made a fresh batch of smoothies for Renée. Loaded up the cooler with the bags of blood on the bottom covered with ice, and the smoothies on top. My packing only took a few moments. As I walk out the door of my apartment I set off the bug bomb, it will cover our scent. When Joham arrives there will be nothing left that would cause him to suspect my involvement.

After I loaded my meager belonging into the car, I found Renée sitting on the sofa with a blank look on her face. I asked if she was ready but she stayed quiet. I moved forward without hesitation to her bedroom and started to pack her clothing in the two larger duffel bags I found in the top of the closet. I tried to pay attention to what I was packing, while still moving at full speed hidden from her watchful eyes. I leave behind all of her work uniforms.

Moving on to her bathroom I grabbed her shampoo, body wash, hairbrush, hair ties, toothbrush and toothpaste. I look out the bathroom window trying to figure out what time it is, we had gone to dinner at five but I haven't noticed how much time has passed since.

I can hear Renee's heartbeat pick up as she moves around in the living room taking things from one box a placing it into another. We are lucky she put off unpacking; it is saving us lots of time now. The bedroom seems complete so I head back into the living room to check her progress.

Renée looks up and asks, "How do I know what's important to take? I mean, I know that there are things I can't part with, but everything seems important when you are not coming back."

While formulating my response I try to remember that to her all of this seems strange. I am sure she has never had to leave the area in hurry before, and has not lived long enough to know that most of the things in her apartment are just that things. Things that can be replaced later.

"Well, I would grab anything that you use daily, anything you think would be unable to replace or hold a lot of sentimental value."

"Umm, well that not much most of my stuff like that is still in Dallas, in a storage unit. I'll just make sure you got the stuff from the bedroom and then we just have those two boxes."

I can tell that she is still in what of a daze, as I watch her walk back to the bedroom. I check the desk and the area where she seems to have stacked the mail looking for anything with her personal information on it so that it's not left behind.

Renée comes back holding a small wooded box that I missed. Of course she would want her jewelry box. I am sure that if Zora were here she would tell me, I'm such a guy.

Going over my mental checklist in my head. I realize the only thing that I am not sure if she has or not are her documents for travel or to get access to her money.

After we are one hundred percent sure that we have not left anything of importance behind we head down to my car. I load the duffel bags into the trunk, dash back up to her place the get the boxes and the cooler I have packed for her. I set off one bug bomb in her apartment and one in the stairwell on my way back to the car with the last of her things.

I am surprised but pleased that Renée has not begun her questioning. It is seven o' five by the time we are on the road heading towards the airport. I am sure that she will not stay silent once she realizes where we going.

Half an hour passes, before she seems to snap out of her daze and notices that we are hearing to the airport.

"Where are we going anyway?"

Keeping my answer short and to the point, I answer "the airport." She rolls her eyes and huffs at me.

"Ok fine, we are heading to my home which is just outside of the Guiana Amazonia National Park. It's in Brazil we will be landing on the Amapa Para the it is about twenty miles of dirt roads from there."

Her eyes go wide I can see all the questions starting to boil over in her mind. I hope that I can holder off till we are in the air, so I tell her just that.

"Wait till after we take off then you can ask me anything."

**_R-P.O.V_**

I am sitting in the cockpit of the smallest plan that I have ever seen with own eyes. Nate told me it's Seaplane, and that we would be able to land on the river.

We have just taken take off and Nate is still chatting away with the flight control tower. He said that after we took off I would be able to ask him anything. I'm thinking I'll drive him crazy with the amount of questions I have running trough my head.

Reaching into my messenger bag I pull out a pen and a pad. I start my list in the middle of the page so I can add question above or below in order of importance.

_- Am I safe?_

_- Is my baby safe?_

_- Why did we have to leave so fast?_

_- Why can't we go back?_

Thinking that we should start out with the basics and move forward from there I stop working on the list. I am pretty sure that I have found the most important questions after all Daddy always said "safety first." I roll my eye at my at that thought.

Yeah - right daddy who let his nineteen year old daughter go off to school thousands of miles away and still to this day won't pick up the phone when I call. Or answer any of the letters I sent home. All because I didn't want to get married right out of high school and stay stuck in the same small town. I just wanted to spread my wings, see the world while I still could and not be trapped or tied down.

Nate is no longer on the radio, so I start at the beginning.

"Am I safe?" Such a simple question however, I can tell by the look that flutters across his face it must not have a simple answer.

"You are not in any danger from myself anyone else in my family, we are going to meet them all back at the house and will do our best to keep you safe." Ok, he did not really answer that one. We will come back to that, moving on.

"Is the baby safe?" this time he smiles and I know the answer before it comes out of his mouth.

"Yes, your baby is safe." I start to wonder how the baby is safe but he is not so sure I am? Not wanting to think about the many answers to that, I press forward.

"Why did we have to leave so fast?" This is one I really had no answers for; it didn't make sense to me. One minute we are at dinner the next I was packing my bags.

"We are getting close to your due date, I wanted to settle in and answer all of your questions before it's time to deliver. Also, you called _Jon_ and I did not want you to wait around to see what he said to do, getting you and the little one to the family is my top priority." I almost think that he made sure that Jon did not get to talk to me.

"Why can't we go back?"

"That's has very long drawn out answer. You will understand more of once you have all the facts, so I promises we will come back to that."

I am not sure what to ask next but I think I want to know more about what his aunt thinks about the pregnancy. How she came to believe that something supernatural is happening?

"You said that Huilen has heard stories or legends of pregnancies like mine. Tell me what she has told you."

I see the darkness that takes over his face and he lets out a shuttered breath before he answers.

"When my mother and Huilen were young they lived in a small village, not too far from where we are going now. The adults would all sit around the fire and tell stories. Huilen can remember the sneaking out of their beds to hide in the bushes and listen as the elders retold the stories that are the history of the area. The one that reminds her of you is about the Libishomen. As the story goes they are demons of the night, often killing young women. Some of the women stuffer a fate worse than death, rather than killing its victims preferring instead to draw small amounts of blood. The woman then begins to display nymphomaniac tendencies, and would mate with the demon sometimes resulting in pregnancy. Apparently not all of the villagers believed the legends, one of the girls, Prie, meet up with a Libishomen. She would not listen to reason about spending time with him, it cost her, her life but not before having a pregnancy very much like yours."

I have no response, just nothing. . . What do you say to a story like that? His poor aunt knew this girl. Who went in the woods with some strange man who all her friends thought was a demon.

Wait what is he thinking that my baby is a demon, that Jon is one of these Libishomen. I don't know what he is trying to get at. Are they thinking some sortta exorcism? I want out of this plane and fast. I will take my chances with the genetic mutations or whatever else, but come on demons.

Nate looks over at me and asks me to stop worrying about the story but to think about Jon. Well that's not helping much he is the one who knocked me up and started this big mess.

"I'm just going to ask you some questions about Jon. Remember you are safe, it's just you and me in this plane now." I just bobble my head up and down.

"What did Jon like to eat?" I give no response.

"Did you ever see him eat?"

"Well, a few times we went out for food he always just got what I ordered. I guess he did not eat much because he would always send me home with the left over's" I answers but I sounds more like a question.

"Ok, just think for a second did you ever see him put food or drink in his mouth?" I really try to think about it maybe I just never pay attention. That can't be it because as I try to think about Jon eating, I can remember seeing Nate eat. It's not like something I just blocked out.

"No." I finally answer while shaking my head.

"When and where did you guys hang out?"

"Oh, at night after he got off work, we had a few dates in bars or restaurants, but then after that we mostly hung out at my house or his apartment, why?" I have no idea where he is going with this.

"I was just wondering if you ever saw him during the day? You know it seems kind of odd that you only saw him at night. What did he do for a living?" I can see how he is intentionally asking questions that make my mind spin than bring me back to simple things to keep me grounded.

"Jon works in finances." He gives me look then asks if I know the name of the company or what he did for them. For the life of me I can't ever remember begin told what he really did or who he works for.

So I just shake my head no.

"You never went to see him on your lunch break or met him for lunch near his office?" I shake my head again.

"What about family did he tell you about them? Or where he was from?"

My mind spinning try as I may I can't come up with any facts about Jon life that is not directly linked to me. He is now asking the questions faster so that I don't have time to think. What color is his hair? Did he have any scars? Tattoos? What is his last name? What is his middle name? I just keep shaking my head because I thought that I may be in love with this man and Nate is quickly pointing out that after a three-month relationship I know nothing about him.

"What color are his eyes?"

"Wine or black" I blurt out not even having to think of the answer. He just raises an eyebrow asking for an explanation.

"I am telling you, His eyes would change back and forth between the color of red wine and black, he was always standoffish when his eyes were black. Then be out of touch for a day or so and come back acting like nothing happened."

"Ok, think about what other strange things he may have done or said then tell me about them. In fact why don't you make a new list?"

I think fast, trying not to see the bigger picture just point out the little things that I never really paid attention to.

_- Wine/black eyes_

_- I have never seen him eat or drink_

_- He never seemed to need sleep even when he had to work in the morning_

_- Never saw him in the sun_

_- Too perfect, perfectly straight teeth, not a mark on him not a wrinkle or freckle, not a single blemish_

_- Very fit, hard body not bulk_

_- He always complains how loud the town was_

_- Very pale almost chalky looking_

_- Cool body temp even in the heat of Belize_

I look over my list and get fed up. I don't care about Jon. All of the questions Nate put forth made me see I was just kidding myself thinking Jon could be the one. And Jon may be something not human, I re-read my list, but nothing really comes to mind. I can come up with one logical question now. Nate owes me answers.

"What is the English term for a Libishomen?"

He looks sad and slightly scared but still looks me in the eye when he replies.

"Vampire."

With one word, my world changes because I see the truth in his eyes.

**_ N- P.O.V._**

"Vampire."

The word easily slipped out of my mouth. Her response is better than expected, her heart only speeds slightly there are no tears or hysterics. She's not calling me crazy yet.

It is a big leap in her mind, to go from, Jon her boyfriend to the entertainment world's version of vampires. She can't seem to put the two together.

"Umm, you think that Jon is a vampire? Like burns in the sunny light, sleeping in coffins, blood drinking vampire? No - just no, I will give that he is strange and clearly I don't know him like I thought. But vampires really? You think I'll believe that. I thought you were going to help me not try to trick Nate, Nahuel whatever your name is."

"You don't need to take my word for it. I can prove it to you if you would like and I am not tricking you."

I'm trying to think of things that I can do while flying the plane that would prove I am half vampire. The only thing coming to mind is speed, strength and maybe the blood at the bottom of the cooler. Her heart rate jumps now, wondering how I could prove that vampires are real, I'm sure.

"What are you trying to say – I know that you and Jon aren't the same so if you think he is a vampire . . . Then what are you?"

What am I? A science experiment gone right according to Joham, a son who killed his mother, a brother, a nephew, a friend I am not sure where to start. Well she had already heard the story of my mother; the beginning is always the best, I guess.

"The story I told you earlier about Huilen, Prie . . . And the libishomen, it's the story of my birth. The story of how I came to be. My mother, Prie died giving birth to me. Helen stayed with her trying to help her, while my mother waited for my father to return. He never came for her, and there was no way for Huilen to save her.

"My older sister, Serena came for me months later to take me to my father, but Huilen chased her off. I have three sisters other than Aurora - Serena, Maysun, and Jennifer. Serena and Maysun are both older than me and Jennifer is younger. Our mothers all died giving birth to us and we all have the same father. Joham, our father considers himself a scientist, creating a super-race of human-vampire hybrids," I answer her.

I am waiting for her to come up with an alternative for why she has been pregnant for twenty-six day and looks at least eight months along.

"You think that Jon, is a vampire like this Joham trying to make hybrids?" There it is the question, I have been dreading.

"No, I don't think that. Joham isn't a very common name, sorta like Nahuel; it's a name you remember if you hear someone mention it. So, he never uses it in the human world. He changes his name a lot but always using something popular, this time it was Jon."

"Jon, my Jon is your father, that can't be right Jon is like thirty, thirty-five at most. You're like eighteen." I cut her of I am not eighteen and Joham is not in his thirties.

"No Renée, I look like an eighteen year old. You never asked how old I was and I never told you because I wont lie to you." She has a puzzled look on her face. Maybe she is wondering how I claim that I will not lie to her while telling her about vampires and hybrids.

"Umm, ok, right well how old are you?" I can't tell if so is humoring me or it's finally starting to sink in.

"We did not keep track at first, but around one hundred and fifty."

"Right, cause vampires are immortal. But your old half so what's your shelf life?" she asks sarcastically.

Sarcasm is generally a great way to get me worked up however after dealing with Zora the last four and a half years I figure I will just treat Renée the same. I roll my eyes at her.

"Ok fine, time for proof. Find something, anything really hard that no matter what I should not be able to break." She is looking at me like I am crazy, but I need to do something to prove to her that I'm not human. She is digging in one of her boxes for something for me to destroy.

"Don't give me something you can't replace. I know you don't believe me yet but you will," I tell her.

The last thing I need to do is break something she loves. She comes back to the co-pilot seat, and hands me a hard cover thick book. I take a look at the cover it's a John Grishman book that I have not read yet, what a shame.

With the book in my left hand, I used my right pointer finger to punch a hole straight though the book. Then I hand it back to her. Her eyes glaze over and I think it hit her; I am not a human boy.

I let her sit in the heavy silence for a while her heart rate slowed down to a normal rate. She opens her mouth to speak a few times but just snaps it shut. I reach behind her seat and get a bottle of water for her. She drinks most of it down right away, and I begin to worry she may be going into shock. I take the water bottle from her and switch it for the last of the smoothie from earlier this evening. She takes a sip and then looks at me. No, she isn't looking, she is inspecting me. Trying to find how she and I are different. I have to get her talking.

"How about you tell me what you think you know about vampires and I will tell you if it's a myth or true." Renée makes eye contact for the first time post-book destruction.

"Stake through the heart?" she asks in a very soft voice.

"Myth" I give her a smile to keep her talking

"Burned Holy water?" Great she is trying to see how to kill a vampire.

"Myth"

"Garlic and crosses repel vampires."

"Myth"

"Vampires do not have a reflection in a mirror"

"Myth"

"Don't show up in photos"

"Myth, I have photos to prove it."

"Sleeps in coffin?"

"Myth, they don't sleep."

"Turns into a bat?" she asks giggling.

"Myth"

"Burned by the sun?"

"Myth, they sparkle like a disco ball." She burst out laughing, but quickly sobers.

"Drinks blood"

"True" I say with a sigh.

"Immortal?" How did we get back to trying to kill vampires?

"True, for the most part. Would you like for me to tell about Vampires or do you want to keep asking questions?"

"Well, can you just tell me about you and your sisters instead?" Renee asks shyly.

"Serena is the oldest, she was born in Norway in eighteen ten. She was Joham's first success. I don't know much about her and have only met her a handful of times. According to Maysun, Serena is very dedicated to Joham's work. They share a different bond than he has with the other two. Maysun and Jennifer both want nothing to do with his 'work'. Serena likes being the first and the favorite. She is willing to do whatever it takes to stay in his good graces.

"Maysun and I have spent the most time together. Joham sends her every ten or fifteen years to find me, hoping that she can convince me to join them. She knows that I never will join him, but she enjoys the company. She was raised by Serena, and had little interaction with Joham until she was fully grown. At which time he returned and preformed a comparative study on them. Serena complied willingly but Maysun was forced to endure his barbaric torture methods, in the name of science.

"When the three of them tracked me down when I was fully grown, and he wanted to run tests for me as well. Joham spoke about the importance of my male genetics and that I could be the key to his supper race. Serena became hostile as he spoke; they left before the argument turned physical.

"Maysun has kept up informed of the many experiments he and Serena have conducted over the years. For the past forty years or so that he started trying to create more hybrids again. Jennifer was is first live birth in Round Two.

"Jennifer, was born in nineteen ninety one, in the US. She has very fond memories of her mother. She blames Joham for her mother's death, much like I do. She has tried to run away several times but he always finds her.

"Jennifer and I started emailing each other nine years ago; she sends me as much information as she can about Joham's location and if he has impregnated anyone. Then I try to track down his victims in an attempt to save them.

"That's how I found Aurora – she has just turned five. I found her in an old farmhouse in Minnesota, just hours after her birth. Her mother Sara had already passed away. You'll get to meet Zora soon, she is like the typical All American teen She is funny, very outgoing, and watches too much TV."

She looks at me with sad eyes and asks, "Why can't Jennifer stay with you?"

"She can and I am sure that one day we will figure out a way for her to leave him for good. If we could just get Maysun to leave Serena behind they could be free. Joham uses Maysun as a threat to Jennifer; telling her that if she leaves that he will kill Maysun. I am hoping that the next time they visit I can get them to stay. Only Jennifer knows about Aurora. Joham thinks that her mother passed away before the baby was viable."

"You mean, he thinks that she died just from being pregnant? Why would he think that I mean my baby is strong but I feel fine otherwise?"

"Apparently, it happens a lot with hybrids," I say with a grimace.

"He left me and my baby knowing that we would likely die."

"Yes, it's not family for him this is science. You, me, your baby, Huilen, all of my sisters and all of the dead mothers mean nothing to him, we are all just a by-product of his science experiment." I snarl out before I can stop myself. Renée looks a little scared now leaning as far away from me as possible. I take a deep breath and left it out slowly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you I just can't stand thinking of all people he has hurt. I told you before you safe with me, I am doing everything I can to keep you safe."

"You keep saying that, but all the mothers have died. How am I going any different? I not ready to die yet, I have never been in love or. . ."

"I promise I will do everything I can to keep you alive and if I think you're going to die I'll turn you if that's what you want."

"Turn me, turn me into what?" She still has big fat tears running down her face looking at me with eyes full of hope.

"Vampire."

**_an: Please, please, please review thanks for reading!_**

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	3. and now I know

**_Chapter 3 - and now I know_**

**_R-P.O.V._**

From the first time Nate said that word, my world has been spinning out of control. I actually thought his wild stories and accusations about Jon were part of a ruse. I was so sure it was all some sick joke or maybe he believed it. I could not, would not, entertain the thought that vampires were real until he punched a hole in a hard cover book with one finger. That's a sight I don't think I will ever forget.

Fear shook me when he spoke of us being just a byproduct of Joham's experiments. I have never seen a face convey so much anger or disgust, and I think he growled as well. Even with it not directed at me I could not help but react, in sheer terror, it was an instinctual response and to think he is half human.

What it must but like to see a full . . . No I don't want to think that word. That word I can't even say it in my mind, and he thinks that I would choose to become one. The idea of it is just wrong; I can't see myself drinking blood and killing people. How many lives are forfeited to sustain a, ugh that word, no matter how I try it just keeps coming back.

"Why? Why would I want that? I mean the whole living for fever would be alright but the rest of it. . . I don't know what to say. I don't even know what the rest even is?" I am not even sure how or what I am trying to ask.

"I would only be willing to turn you if you cannot continue to live as a human. I am not sure if we can deliver the baby without it costing your life, that is the only reason I would even consider it." I try to think about what he is saying but in my head I just keep seeing me killing people like in the "lost boys." With these thoughts in my head I can't respond, I am just staring out the window into the night.

"Let me tell you about truth vampires, not what you think you know about them. . . I am not trying to persuade you to do something you don't want to do. I just think that you should know about the facts before you make up your mind."

I don't bother to look at him. I just nod my head so that he will get on with it.

**_N-P.O.V._**

Pleased that Renée has managed to calm him self down, I think about the facts. I am not going to push her into something that she doesn't want.

As always I start from the beginning, how one becomes a vampire.

"Vampires are made when they bite but do not kill a person. They are venomous like a snake, so as long as the person's heart is beating the venom spreads. Slowly changing them into to a vampire in three days time." I look over at her to see if she is still OK. Her heart is steady and her face is blank.

"According to Huilen, the pain of this transformation is indescribable. She can only compare it to being burned alive. I remember her screams, they will haunt me forever, and for almost three days straight she cried begging for death. I would never make this offer if there were another option. Once her heart stopped beating the pain left her and it only remained in her throat. That pain is what we call thirst. When a vampire wakes the thirst is the worst it will ever be. Spending them in to bloodlust, they are crazy with desire for blood. Huilen slaughtered a village before she knew what was happening." Her heart jumped and she looks over at me wide-eyed she starts to talk but I cut her off.

"Just wait – I'm not done yet. Horrified by what she had done she took me and ran deep into the jungle. When she stopped, sat leaning up against a tree for three more days, not moving at all. Vampires don't need to breathe, blink or shift their weight. They could stand in one spot forever if they wanted to and never be uncomfortable. When they stop they are still as a statue. I on the other hand was hungry and thirsty. I ate some plants and went to the riverbank to drink when a large alligator tried to attack me. Huilen jumped into the action grabbing the beast. With her vampire strength she unknowingly ripped its head off. When the blood began to flow I drank from it. Huilen nor myself have never tasted human blood after that day." She is just staring at me in disbelief. So I press on, "We stayed deep in the jungle away from the humans for years, too fearful to get close enough to smell them and lose control. Eventually we met Zafrina, Kachiri and Senna, I'll tell you more about them later. They told us as long as we were not thirsty we would not lose control. So we moved closer to the humans still fearful that we would not be able to stop ourselves. Little by little we gained enough faith that we could interact with them hurting them. About fourteen years after my birth we left the jungle and reentered the human world."

"Wow, do many others do that?"

"No, we have heard rumors that two other covens do the same, but we have never met them. We tend to keep to ourselves."

"Why? I mean it seems like you should be out spreading the word to others so they can live off animals too." Renee demanded.

"The few we have tried to get to live like us, don't like the taste of animal blood, and don't see any reason not to kill the humans. We have only met one who was willing to change his diet."

She looks a bit dumbfounded by that statement. I am not sure which part confuses her so I just clarify it all.

"You see human blood is the equivalent to tasting a thousand times better than your favorite food. While animal blood is just something you can sustain your self with. It's not particularly good tasting and it's not something you crave. As for not caring about human life that's debatable I have been told that most vampires see human as prey and nothing more. Also Dermott, that Huilen's mate, says that human blood is an addiction. He took five years before he went near a human after he met Huilen. He was already changing his diet and hated killing humans before we met him." She nods once, thinking she understands the concept, but being human I know she can't.

"Why do you all keep to you selves', is it just because of the animal thing?"

I can't answer this without going into a lot of history. I'm not ready to talk about the fears I have for my family, my family that just keeps growing. Still I have promised the truth and the answer I give just a watered down version of the truth.

"Then main reason is I am not a Vampire. I'm not as strong or as fast as a vampire. Therefore, defending myself would be hard and just like human's vampires fear the unknown. I am unknown, only five soon to be six hybrids are in existence."

I am hoping that we can get down to the facts now. I want to tell her more, but stay off the topic of the dangers of being a hybrid a little longer.

"So you are different because your mom was human. What other differences are there other than the speed on strength?"

"How about I tell you about Vampires then about hybrids." It has not escaped me that she has yet to say the word vampire; now that she knows that they are real. She just nods her head looking stressed again.

"I am going to start at the top, they are smart. I'm sure you have heard that human only use a fraction of their brain, well vampires use it all. They can concentrate on multiple things at the same time and process information faster than the fastest computers in the world. Vampires also have extreme senses, vampire sight is perfectly clear to the point that they can see the dust in the air. Huilen sees much further and clearer than I do, even with my advanced vision. I can't accurately describe it because I have never seen by human eyes and Huilen having seen from both still says it's incomparable. Hearing is so clear that they can hear a spider move from anywhere in a house. Huilen makes us live miles from the road because she hates to hear the music in cars that drive past. Taste is another hard one to explain. Vampire's only want to taste one thing and that I describe to you already. Just breathing through their mouth they can't taste every thing around them. Touch is also enhanced a vampire can feel everything. They can feel every thread of what would be the smoothest of silk to a human. Smell the strongest of all the senses. If you were to smell a vampire with your human nose you would think they smell good, and they all do. However, when a vampire scents another vampire they can break down the "good" smell into each aspect of it. Huilen smells like Hibiscus, Orange paper flowers and morning dew. If she traveled through the forest three days ago any vampire would be able to smell her and follow that scent. It's not just that they can smell each other that way; they smell every thing like that. They can smell things from miles away and it is so accurate that they can detect adrenaline in the blood of their prey."

"Wow, I can't even imagine living that," Renee says looking bewildered.

"I know that you can't that why I am trying to explain so that you are fully aware of the choice you have to make."

"OK there is more right, I know you said they strong and fast."

"Yeah, that's a big understatement. An average vampire running at full speed would look like a quick blur that you may or may not notice. They are so strong that a Mack truck traveling sixty miles an hour could not move them." At that she let out a nervous laugh.

"So we're talking about stuff like Supper Man, 'faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap small building in a single bound.'" While I was good to hear her giggle I need to keep her focused.

"Hard to believe but very true. Only the don't fly and Kryptonite can't hurt them, only another vampire clan. The only thing strong enough to hurt a vampire is a vampire. Vampire skin is harder than the strongest stone and nothing other vampire teeth can break it. Oh and when I told you about sparkling like a disco ball I wasn't kidding. Imagine them covered in diamond dust, light is reflected off of them like a prism. That is one more thing that just hard to describe, until you see it."

"So that's why they don't go out in the sun, they can't because it would show us all how different they are."

"Yes, that is very true. Out in the wilderness, where there are no humans around Huilen and Dermott don't need to worry about it because we would hear them coming from literally miles away. When they travel into towns in the area they go at twilight and the sun is just low enough to not cause a scene. When we live amongst the humans we tend to stay north and in areas that generally cloudy." She looks sadden by that, I am sure that she is remembering her hometown that she had to get away from.

"Just a bit more and then we will have covered all the basics . . ."

**_R-P.O.V_**

Nate continued to tell me about them, never aging, never changing and being who they are from the moment they were changed. Likes, dislikes and personality traits are all as unchanging for them. Venom enhances beauty, heals all wounds and scars. They can never sleep or dream and they never get tired. They can run at full speed for hours or even days if they wish. He also told me that they can't reproduce, they are not born they are made, turned. Now the only way I may live is to be turned as well. Live, if that's you can even call it. Hidden away from the humans at first and then when I can control myself hiding within them never letting on to what I have become. He says it's my choice but what kind of choice do I really have. It seems to me I will die while giving or become a word I can even say out loud, Vampire.

And now I know it's not about choice but survival. Do you want to survive how can that even be a question. Who in their right mind would choose death, when you can live on?

**_._**

**_an: as always please review and let me know what you are thinking. Also I would really like a beta or proofreader. Let me know if you would like to help. _**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	4. where do we go from here?

**_Chapter 4 – where do we go from here?_**

**_N-P.O.V._**

I feel relived that we have covered so much information during the flight. I know that Renée is tired; it has been a long day for her. The emotional roller-coaster is enough to drain my energy as well. The last half hour of the flight Renée was resting, not truly asleep but not awake either. Thankfully the cloak of darkness will keep Renée from seeing much as I land the plane, something no human would even try. There is not much space between the treetops, before the canopy opens up to the river below.

Once we land I cut the engine, knowing we have the momentum to float down the river and into the small cove where we leave the plane. When the engine is cut, I hear Zora's heart. I was sure to fly over the house when we made our descent, letting them know we had arrived.

"It seems that Aurora can't wait to meet to meet you. I had asked her to drop off the truck for us but she is waiting." Renée just nods with a smile.

I steer the drifting plane into the cove and let it gently run aground. I hop out and dash too Renées side of the plan. She startled a bit when I opened the door so fast. I carried her to dry land placing her gently on her feet. I had just turned to head back to the plane when Renée shrieked in fright, then I was knocked to the ground by a mess of red hair.

"I missed you so, so much you're not allowed to leave me with the warm-parents for that you long ever again."

Well Zora clearly knows how to make an entrance. She hops off of me at lightning speed.

"Hello I am Aurora Grace, your little one's big sister!" then she pulls Renée in for a hug. Renée looks over at wearily; I just smile and nod, letting her know that this is normal for Zora.

"Umm I'm Renée, it's nice to meet you." She says in a questioning tone.

"This way Renée. Let's get you in the truck and Aurora can start unloading the plane," I send Zora mocking glare and mutter "Can't you try to act a little human." She just rolls her eyes and flashes to the plane. By the time I get Renée settled into the passenger seat, Zora has made it back. She clearly ignored my comment about acting human because she has everything from the plane with her. We load the truck and start the journey back to the house. Renée asks in a soft, sleep filled voice

"Are Huilen and Dermott going to be at the house?" Before I can open my mouth Zora speaks up.

"No, they are out for the evening but they will be back by the time you wake up tomorrow. I got a room all set for you. When we get back to the house you can get some sleep, I even help Dermott build you some stairs." Renee is wide eyed at the building stairs statement; I chuckle at the look on her face.

"Remember able to leap small building in a single bound; we just jump normally you'll be the first human ever to see our home here." That sends Zora in to a fit of laughter in the back seat.

"Just wait until you see it Renée, it's not really a house it's a tree house. Like 'Swiss family Robinson', only we have solar power and batteries to run everything." I am amazed at movie reference. That's not the type of move she would watch, she must have been looking up tree houses online or something. They are chatting about the house and how we can have all the comforts of the world in the middle of the jungle. Renée seems at ease with Zora now that she is sitting still and not flashing around. Zora's next question peaks my interest.

"So have you picked out any name for the baby yet?" Renée and I have had this conversation many times always with different results. The names she picks are always off the wall.

"Yes, Nate and I have talked about it a lot. I have finally come up with two that I love and I hope that he approves." Zora looks at me strangely about the "Nate" while Renée looks to me with a big smile. "Going with the classics like you suggested I picked, Alexander for a boy, and Isabella Marie for a girl." Surprisingly I like both names, but I can't help teasing a bit.

"You mean you're not going with Waverly, Clover, Lux or Breccan?" I ask with an exaggerated fake pout, this sends both them into a fit of giggles once more. I'm so happy they are getting along. Zora tells Renée that she loves the names, together they try to come up with a good middle name for Alexander. Then they move to nick names, I can see the lights from house now and I wonder how close we have to be for Renée to see them. Zora must have turned on every light in the house. A few minutes pass before Zora tells Renée to look at the house, "Wow" she gasps out with her mouth hanging open in shock.

"I just knew you would love it, amazing right?" says Zora still giggling at the look on Renee's face.

**_R-P.O.V._**

I have never seen anything like this "tree-house" it's huge. With five separate buildings, then one I think is the main area of the house is at least three times the size of my old little beach house and has a second floor. The remaining rooms or buildings are all circular and about thirty feet wide. The newest looking one has a bridge connecting it to the main house and a smaller second floor. It is more like a village in the trees rather than one home. Nate offers to carry me up the steps that apparently are a new addition, which Aurora and Dermott finished today. When we reach the top I think we are at least sixty feet up in the trees. Aurora has beaten us to the top with my bags. Nate gently sets me on my feet before saying he was going back for the cooler and my boxes.

In the well light home I can see that Aurora is absolutely the most beautiful girl I have ever laid eyes on. She has vivid red hair; the greenest eyes and lips the color of raspberries.

"I would love to show you around, but for tonight how about I just show to a bed. I know it's been a long day." She says with a big smile.

"That would be great." I feel like I could fall asleep standing up.

I follow her from the main area to a bridge that I assume leads to my room. I'm sure that it was her who wrapped the handrails in white Christmas light to lead the way. When we got to the new deck she takes me up a single flight of stairs to the smaller second floor. The room is basically empty except for a truck at the foot of a double bed covered in white linens and mosquito netting which is hung from the rafters above. Aurora places both of my bags on the truck and shows me to the small bathroom. She wishes me good night and then is gone in a flash. After using the bathroom and brushing my teeth I yank off my jean shorts and collapse in to bed.

I was warm, too warm. With my eyes still closed, I stretched my arms above my head and kick the blankets off my legs. I winced when my little baby seemed to stretch as well. The memory of yesterday filled my mind, Vampires, Hybrids and a crazy tree house in the middle of the jungle. I rolled out of the bed and headed to the little bathroom to start my day.

I find both Nate and Aurora in the main area, he is lounging hammock with his i-pad and she is sitting at a big glass table eating some fruit salad. She hops up to greet me then drags me to the table to eat breakfast with her. She has everything on the table ready to go, eggs, toast, fruit salad and a smoothie; from Nate I'm sure. I eat quietly and quickly because I can tell Aurora is ready to burst with excitement. She is watching my every move. When I can't eat another bite I start to push back from the table and ask her,

"Where do I take the leftovers and dishes?" by the time I finish talking I am left staring at an empty spot where she was. I look down and see the dishes are gone as well. I hear Nate laughing behind me – so turn towards him.

"Is she always like that? I mean I thought she was going to burst while I ate." He is laughing harder now. I'm glad he finds this funny. I always thought he was too serious for someone his age. Now I know better, he is older than he looks and probably stressed out from trying to deal with his father's latest mess. I hear Aurora giggle softly.

"Well, that depends do you mean the excitement or moving so fast?"

"Both," I answer her.

"Oh well, you know what we are so no need to play human and I am really happy that you two are here!" She gives me a hug then takes my hand pulling towards a big brown sofa. I just shake my head as she practically tosses me onto the sofa. Nate scolds her as he walks over to join us.

"You need to remember that she is human Zora. A pregnant human, pregnant with your little brother or sister. Stop dragging her around the house." She looks properly chastised for a second then with a big smile she puts both of her hands on my belly and says.

"I'm so sorry Renée and little one. I am just so happy you're both here and after talking with Nahuel I am sure that we'll be great friends Renée. And I already love you, little one." At least she likes me. I find it somewhat odd that she speaks to my big belly and not me. Whatever, she's just happy to have a new brother or sister I guess.

"Aurora wanted to be the one to talk with you about hybrids this morning. I figured you two could get to know each other better that way."

"Sure why not, after all she said we're going to be great friends." Nate's smile widens and he kicks his legs over the arm of the sofa and resumes playing with his I-pad. Aurora is back to looking like she could burst at any second. She takes a big deep breath and begins,

"Hybrids or Halfling as like to call us, get he best of both worlds. We are just as smart. We sleep, but not for long periods of time like humans. We don't sparkle in the sun, but our skin is just as tough. We're are not quite as strong or fast . . ." She rambles on for forty-five minutes straight before I have to stop her " . . . And the best part is that your baby can already hear and understands us so that's how Nahuel think he can deliver Baby-Bella or Xand-Man safely." I gasp loudly in shock.

"What are you talking about? Babies can't understand what is being said when they are born, let alone hear and understand while in the womb."

Aurora starts to talk but Nate cuts her off.

"Your right Renée, human babies can't but hybrids can. Both Aurora and myself have our memories from when we were still inside our mothers. We remember them talking to us. That's why when Huilen, Dermott and I tried to name her she just kept shaking her head no. She could not speak yet but she knew her name. Her first words a few days later were 'My name is Aurora Grace.'"

Aurora is nodding her head frantically while Nate is telling me this. Then she blurts out, "Oh! Oh! Oh! I can prove it!" she takes my hand and puts on my belly and presses lightly. "OK Baby gently kicks three times." She keeps her hand on top of mine, the baby kicks "One" another "Two" another "Three! See Renée even as babies were are smart and with are super hearing we can hear every word." I have tears running down my face. I just can't believe it, my baby can really hear and understand us all.

With a sheepish smile Nate tells me "I used to sneak in to your apartment to tell the baby stories and not kick you hard because he or she is so much stronger than you."

I just nod I still have no words. As my tears dry up Aurora stand up and tells us she's going to visit with the "vam-parents" to give _us_ some time to digest all the new information. Then she is gone before I can blink let alone thank her. Us. My baby and I, both of us in the last two days heard about thing I could not even have imagined in my wildest dream.

.

**_an: as always please review and let me know what you are thinking also I would really like a beta or proofread like me know if you would like to help. Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended. 11/17/12_**


	5. sensitive information

**_Chapter 5 – sensitive information_**

**_N-P.O.V._**

After Renée ate lunch, I asked if she was ready to meet Huilen and Dermott. She looks around the main room nervously, like they were going to pop out of nowhere, before answering.

"I would like to, but well. . . I was thinking that they didn't like me or that maybe they didn't want to deal with the crazy pregnant human."

"That's not it at all they just did not what to overwhelm you. Human are normally fearful of vampires even if they don't know why, they just wanted you to have a chance to get comfortable before they met you."

Shrugging her shoulders a bit she says, "Oh, well I'm fine. I have really been looking forward to meeting them both but especially Huilen cause I have heard so much about her from you." She said with a big smile. I tell her to listen and in a whisper she can barely hear, I ask them to come join us. They both land on the deck just out of her line view. With purposeful noise and human like movements they enter the room. She is watching them approach, when Zora flashes to my side. Renée notices her sudden appearance and gives Zora a small smile. I guess she is getting used to her popping in and out of the room. Dermott and Huilen are hand in hand and stop five feet from the three of us. With excessively friendly grins on their faces, the sight makes me chuckle.

"Renée, this is my Aunt Huilen and her mate Dermott." I am not at all surprised when she takes two steps forward and extends her hand to greet Huilen first. Dermott however looks so shocked that Renée could knock him over. He was convinced that with all that she had dealt with she would not be comfortable in a roomful of vampires.

"I'm Renée. It's lovely to meet you, you have a beautiful home."

While shaking her head somewhat sadly Huilen says, "You too Renée, but I want to know this is your home now too. If you want to complement the house Dermott is the one who designed it." Renée has to tilt her head back to see Dermott's face she let out a nervous giggle and says, "Pleased to meet you Dermott. Thanks for adding the steps and my room to your beautiful home." She put strong emphasis on your and beautiful.

Dermott snickers at her and shakes her hand saying, "You're most welcome Renée, we are all glad to have you here." Zora who can't stand not being included pouts and mutters under breath "I helped" too low for Renée.

As Renée got comfortable on the sofa, I noticed Huilen eyes locked on Renée's form. I gave her hand a squeeze when walked passed her to join Renée.

Huilen looks over to me and stared. "You did well Nahuel, you should be proud." I tried to swallow the lump in my throat to respond but could not, so I just nodded looking down to the floor.

"He did. He has been wonderful to me and from what he has told me I stood no chance of surviving on my own. You will never know how thankful I am Nate. Not just to you but to you as well Huilen because you raised him to be the man he is today."

With that said Huilen breaks down in dry sobs, Dermott has her wrapped up tightly in his arms. Huilen finally gets a hold of her emotions and gives Renée a tight nod.

Renée the looks to Zora, "So what is on the agenda for the afternoon? Anything else you need to teach me before we get this kid out of me?"

She says in a joking way and has no idea the effect it is having on all of us. Huilen looks at me and I can barely make eye contact with her. I just shake my head no when I see the question in her eyes. Zora knows what still needs to be covered and rises from her seat with a haunted look on her face. She tells Renée that she's going out for a bite to eat and giving the adults time to talk. With that the room falls silent once more. Renée looks away from the spot that Zora just left towards Dermott who is wearing a tight smile; he shrugs and starts to talk.

"I guess that depends on you. I can tell that Nahuel has not told you much about the way hybrids are born, but I know that he offered to change you if it was to save your life. Have you given that anymore thought?"

"Sure I have, who wouldn't. I know that none of the other mothers had the option of being turned and really what alternative is there. It sounds to me like it's death or become a Vampire." I cringe at her blasé attitude about being turned I don't want to accept that it's the only way.

I jump up and look down to Renée "It may be different this time, your healthy compared to the others. You're not half dead before the baby is ready to be born. I as long as I can keep the baby from panicking . . ." I just trail off when Huilen hisses at me to stop growling at her.

"I'm sorry everyone I need a break, I just. . ." And I turn and run.

I have been running and hunting anything in my path for at least an hour when I come across Zora's trail. When I finder her she is sitting in the top of a tree at least four hundred feet up on a thin branch that can't support us both. I find a branch twenty feet below that will hold us both and sit. She joins me but we don't talk, we just sit.

**_R-P.O.V_**.

Huilen and Dermott are both silent for a few beats of my heart. Huilen then moved to sit next to me then she spoke; telling me how hard it was on Nahuel to remember his mother's death, as well as the deaths of the other women he found. She then went on to explain that while I was indeed in much better health that she still did not see me living my life as a human after the birth of my child. Then she went into great detail about, Pire's pregnancy how she had many broken ribs and was covered in bruises. Only thing she could eat without vomiting was raw meat that Huilen had hunted for her. She believes that both Nahuel and his Mom were starving to death. Finally at the end when the labor began, the sisters were in hysterics. Nahuel struggled to free himself himself from Pire's tightening uterus and tore his way out. Then when Huilen picked him up he bit her, changing her into a Vampire. She then reminded me how their brains work differently and the memories were just as fresh today as they were when it happened one hundred and fifty years ago. That Nahuel see's himself as a killer even though he hunts animals. I had heard the watered down version of the story from Nate, it was heartbreaking, but to hear it from Huilen perceptive and to hear that Nate feels responsible for his mother's death is almost more that I handle. No mother would want that for her child, I will find the time to speak with him be for my baby is born. Sadness drains out of me as I think about Jon or Joham, what ever his name is; we have to stop him there must be a way.

"How do we stop Joham? We have to find a way to stop him, Nahuel can't keep doing this." Dermott now looks very worried for some reason.

"We have rules and ruler's in the vampire world. They would gladly stop him, however we can't bring this to them." Well, that seems ridiculous.

"Why not, you said 'they would gladly stop him' so what reason could you have for not telling them." For some reason he looks almost fearful.

"You need to understand the Volturi are the largest and most powerful coven in the world. They have enforced the laws for over twenty-five hundred years. They show no mercy and if found guilty of a transgression you are put to death. They don't give second chances."

"Oh, so you don't want Joham to die. Is that why you can't tell them?" I am slightly confused the only time I have seen Nate mad was when he spoke of his father. Earlier, he was just disparate not mad.

Dermott lets out a dark menacing laugh "Oh no, I want him dead and I believe the rest do as well. We can tell the Volturi without raising many questions and we could be brought up on charges as well."

"Well, I don't know the Laws but I can see you guys doing anything that would put your family at risk." I state confidently, but for some reason Huilen looks saddened by this statement.

"We have one rule, just one law broken into many different facets; keep the secret. This law MUST be followed. All the other laws are truly just ways to define what we all must do or not do to keep the humans from finding out." I'm sure that all the color drained from my face when he said that. I feel myself break out into a cold sweat. I think I am going to pass out. I see a hand push an open bottle of what towards me. I hear Huilen and Dermott hissing back and forth at each other.

"We all know that I am going to be turned so it won't matter right?" I say hopefully, "I mean it's not like they are going to show up on our doorstep between now and a few days right?" I could really use some reassurance at this point. After a final glare towards Dermott, Huilen speaks up.

"You are correct. You will be turned and no they will not be showing up here. That's not the problem the problem is the powers the Volturi have. All vampires have the same general strengths and weakness, however some have a power." I cut in Nate has told me this already.

"Yeah like Zafrina – can make you see whatever she wants." Dermott is taking over again.

"Yes, you see the Volturi have many powerful Vampires among them. The one we worry about most is Aro, with a single touch he sees every thought you have ever had." My eyes go wide and Dermott lets out a dark chuckle. "So you see the key is never to be touched or tell anyone who could be touched, about anything that could be considered not keeping the secret."

They bounce back and forth telling me parts of the rules, from the obvious thing like staying out of the sun in front of humans to the much more complex. A maker is responsible for its creation for the first year of its life. The key to the rules is staying away from human all together or being inconspicuous. Then they move on to a history of sorts tell me about Children of the Moon, the newborn wars in Central America and then the real horror immortal children. They were created by lonely female vampires sadden by the fact that they could not have children of their own. Infants and toddlers frozen in time with a level of maturity that is unchanged, it only took a few tantrums of the children before the Volturi began to hunt them. Whole covens died trying to protect the tiny terrors. Apparently they were quite loveable when not feeding or having tantrums.

"Wow, it's hard to hard to imagine a toddler, causing that type of destruction." I could not seem to wrap my head around it.

"Think about what you know about two-year old humans. Then give them the strength and speed of a vampire. The worst part of the Immortal Children was their innocence, they were not at fault the vampires that made them were. The children were destroyed though, they were uncontrollable and unable to change." She looks so upset by what she has just said. Dermott however is looking at me somewhat expectantly, unable to take the quiet I ask.

"What is it Dermott?" He looks down at Huilen.

"Did the story of the Immortal Children remind you of anything else?" I don't reply verbally, I just surge. "Young children with inhuman looks, strength and speed. Blood drinking children, that a whole coven would die to protect." I can see the frustration on his face but I have no idea why. Without thought I rub my protruding belly when my baby kicks softly. Just one kick from my baby is all it takes sheer panic to take over. "Oh NO, no Nate said . . . But they grow so fast and they have a heartbeat, and blood right Aurora said they have blood and venom . . ." My mouth can't keep up with my head, I just keep thinking of the differences between hybrids and Immortal Children. It's a long list with many, many differences.

"You're right, they are very different. However if you were to see a vampire with a child what would you think? Without the knowledge of hybrids, you and everyone else would think it was an Immortal Child. Any vampire would tell the Volturi what they saw then the Volturi would send the guard to destroy said child and anyone with it. They would not stop for an explanation." Now I understand the reasons we can't go to the Volturi, they are kill first ask questions later kind of people. Nate told me that he stays away from other vampires, even the animal eaters like them.

"So that's why Nate stays away from other vampires. So the Volturi doesn't find out about Hybrids. He said vampires don't like what they know. No one but Joham and us know about hybrids. So what's that, like three soon four vampires and almost six hybrids. Well, nobody can say you all can't keep a secret." I am somewhat dumbfounded Nate said his oldest sister is almost two hundred years old, how did Joham keep this quiet for so long. Huilen heard the legend of the libishomen getting girls pregnant one hundred and fifty years ago while she was a young human child. "I still don't understand how the Volturi don't know yet. I mean you heard about it when you were still human, so how is they don't know?" I ask Huilen but Dermott responds.

"You're right there are legends about hybrids here in South America and I'm sure they have heard them. But the knowledge of the succubus, contradict the ability of keeping a human safe while mating. I am sure you have those stories." I nod and he continues, "Aro's power is what makes them so readily believe that it would not be true. He has seen the thoughts of many succubuses'. Also I have been told that three different Vampires have asked for death after killing a human they loved. So between their thoughts and those from a succubus he believes that a vampire male can't mate with a human and have her live. I say male because it is well-known that three 'vegetarian' succubus women do it on a regular basis." I find that thought slightly disturbing, but also realize how close to death I came, by being intimate with Jon.

"How do you know so much about Aro's thoughts on the subject?"

"It is not that I know how he feels about this subject, it's more I know how he thinks in general." I give him my best "what the hell" look and he says, "I did at one time consider him a friend. I stayed with them for over a decade in the late fifteen hundreds, would you like to hear my story?"

Of course I want to but he has this look on his face that tells me it's not all about tree houses in the Jungle and living with his family under the radar, but I nod anyway.

**_an: as always please review and let me know what you are thinking also I would really like a beta or proofreader let me know if you would like to help._**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	6. Dermott's story

**_Chapter 6 - Dermott's Story_**

**_* I have updated twice today. So if you have not read the chapter 8 please do so. This is just the story of Dermott, no interaction between charters*_**

Dermott was born in Scotland in what he estimates to be 1515. His father was a Baron, the lowest form of nobility. He thinks he was part of a large family although he has almost no memory of them he remembers playing with four or five other children when he was young.

What human memories he did hold onto where that of being in the Scottish military. He has very clear memory of being on a ship that was taken by force and tossed into an English prison. He and his other shipmates were attacked by a group of three vampires. Dermott was the last to be fed upon. When the vampires heard the guards coming they set fire to the room. Leaving Dermott half dead and changing into a vampire, they fled the scene.

Dermott woke from his change alone in a new cell, saved from the fire by the English guards he thinks. He killed many prisoners and guards as he escaped the prison. He then left the city and ran in the English countryside where he stayed for several years feeding on travelers.

He eventually came across Robert a lonely vampire, and the first he had come across after being changed. Robert took the time to tell him about the rules of the vampire world. They became travel mates from that day forward. Dermott did enjoy traveling northern Europe but want more than just running and killing. So the two, started stay closer to towns so Dermott could steal books to read. He also liked to listen in on the conversations about the war he had fought in. Robert told him this behavior was odd, and he did not see any reason to interact with humans other than feeding.

As a few years past Robert became bored of Dermott's odd ways of staying close to the cities and spying on the humans. He then told Dermott he wanted to try to change someone else, and after that he would part ways with him. Dermott augured against it saying that if wanted a companion, he should go find other vampires. They went back and forth for weeks before Robert showed up with a girl no more than 16 years old already changing. Dermott was furious with Robert but agreed to help with the girl after she woke, they left the city and headed back into the countryside.

Three days past when it was time for her to wake the each had a hold on her. After a momentary struggle she was free, clearly livid and running away from them. They chased her for days on end, only stopping when she entered a town during daylight. As the night moved in so did they the destruction was clear more than twenty dead in the streets and those that remained were hidden in their homes. They continued the chase of weeks trying to herd her into the countryside.

Finally after well over a month Dmitri, Jane, Alex and Felix, all members of the Volturi Guard, joined them. Even with their help it took 3 days to catch her. It was Jane's power of pain that stopped her. While Robert begged for the life of a newborn whose name he did not even know she was put to death.

The Guard demanded that they both go to Volterra with them. When they arrived they were taken before the three leaders and Aro used his power on both Dermott and Robert. Then after a brief discussion between the brothers Robert was put to death. Dermott hand been pardoned, Aro having seen how against creating a newborn he was to begin with. Aro also offered him a place to stay and learn, knowing that Dermott wanted to do more than mindless killing.

During his time in Volterra he read every book in the huge library and bonded with both Aro and Caius while debating many things from historic wars to reasons behind the laws the imposed. They were cultured and loved entertaining the vampires that visited. Dermott met many other vampires while staying in Volterra. He truly enjoyed his time with them, after he felt he had learned all they had to offer, he could not help but focus on the one issue that he had with the brothers. Their feeding habits, having humans from all backgrounds brought to them to for feeding disturbed him greatly. Dermott understood the need to feed but did not feed in excess; he also only fed on the elderly or very ill. After many hours wasted debating the issue with Aro and Caius, Dermott left the Volturi behind. After three decades parting ways as "Dear friends."

He still returned in Northern Europe settling in towns while always hunting hundreds of miles away. He made a life for himself in each town he traveled to. He held many different jobs, a farm hand, a teacher, so on and so on until he became a ship builder. He loved it and would often return to work while everyone else was asleep. The 3 years he spent in that town went by fast and when it was time to move on, he did but it was saddened that he had to leave behind his only enjoyable job.

From then on he only took jobs creating things, Dermott often moved to new areas of development helping to build whole towns.

Dermott returned to Scotland when he heard about the Jacobite Rising of 1715, he did not fight in the war but help to rebuild the towns and homes that were destroyed by it. He considered it his way of giving back to his country.

It was a move that came from good will but end horribly. After beginning in his homeland for many decades he was traveling to feed several towns from where he was working, he came across a scent so sweet it drove him mad. When he came out of the bloodiest he looks at whom he had killed. It was a young boy no older than 12, as he gazed down at the limp body in his arms he felt as though he knew the child, but he could not see how. Grief stricken over killing a child, he took the body into the woods. He did not hide it well since he wanted the boy's family to find him.

Then the next night he returned to the town just after dark, and listened to the family weep for the boy. He did this as his own form of penance, he also planned to sneak into the house and hide large sums of money. When all was quite he made his move. He went into a large library to hide the money, digging in the bottom desk where he planned to leave the money he found something much worse, a family tree with a coat of arms that he recognized immediately as his own. He then found his name, Dermott Ramsay, along with the names of his brothers and sisters. It when then that knew the boy he killed almost 200 years after his change was a relative.

He then fled the house, ran to the sea and dove in, he swam to Ireland. When he made landfall he ran some more until he came to the ocean again. He turned back and ran into the wilderness, where he stopped. He climbed a large tree, sat down, closed his eyes and stopped breathing.

The next thing he remembers is a large vampire woman named Siobhan knocking him out of a tree. At the bottom stood another vampire and 3 mostly dead humans. He killed and feed from them in under a minute. While the two unknown vampires watched from several yards away. When he finished the newcomers introduced themselves as Siobhan and Liam. They asked Dermott how long he had been in the tree, he said he had no idea and asked what year it was. They told him it was the fall of 1819; once they figure out that he had been in the tree for approximately a year and a half.

Siobhan sent Liam for humans while Dermott protested. Siobhan, explained that he was in their territory and the only way he could even leave without causes a scene was to be strong enough to resist killing a whole town and that he was too weak physically to try to out run them. So they stand in the woods together for over a month, Siobhan and Liam would take turns bringing him humans to feed from. They understood how he chooses to feed because they had similar drinking habits. After their show of kindness and rehabilitation of Dermott the 3 became friends. The Irish were true friends, not like Dermott and Robert or even the friends he had made in Volterra, the shared similar interests and drinking habits.

After 2 decades with the Irish Dermott moved to America with a promise to return to Ireland at least every 10 years to visit. His life in America was similar to that in England, Scotland and Ireland. He helped to build homes and business for the expanding city in the north. Moving from town to town every 5 years and every 2 moves he went home to Ireland to stay with Siobhan, Liam and Maggie the covens newest addition.

Siobhan created Maggie shortly after Dermott left when she found the young girl left caring for her ill grandmother after the rest of her family left for America. Maggie said they never liked her because she could always tell on someone was lying to her, a gift that only strengthen when she was changed.

It was on one of such visits in 1912 that the Irish told him of Carlisle Cullen a vampire who became a doctor, and only feed from animals. They spent a long time discussing this way of feeding Maggie assured him that all Carlisle said was true. He had never drank from a human in his 270 plus years as a vampire and had suffered no ill effects. Dermott tried to drink from a large deer, he found it foul-tasting but he drank a dear a day for a week while in Ireland. The only side effect he noticed was that it was harder to be around humans.

When Dermott returned to America, he had his first slip up and accidentally killed someone in the woods while hunting for an animal. Between his increased thirst and his slip up Dermott did not know how to hunt with risking the humans. Finally he decided to head south he thought he would travel to the jungle and a far-far away from any humans.

After only a year in the jungle Huilen found him.

**_an: as always please review and let me know what you are thinking. Also I would really like a beta or proofreader, let me know if you would like to help. Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended. 11/19/12_**


	7. its time

**_Chapter 7 – its time_**

**_R-P.O.V._**

". . . Huilen and met every day by the waterfall at noon to hunt, and then we would talk for hours until nightfall. It was two weeks before she took me to meet Nahuel. I was shocked to learn about hybrids, to say the least, but thankfully I met them when I did. I can imagine what my reaction would have been if I meet them when Nahuel looked like a child."

Dermott frowned, then looked to Nate and Aurora who both just smiled, then came in when he was talking about living with the Irish.

"Anyway, it took about five years of hunting animals before I was comfortable enough around humans. When we reentered the human world I became an architect. We still moved every few years and worked to stay clear of other Vampires. We do still go and see the Irish, but Nahuel has chosen not to meet them." I chock my head to the right and look at Nate.

"They're your only true friends, being associated with me keeps you from returning to Volterra, I would not want you tell them and end up losing them too." Nate says while looking down.

"Well, I want to meet them, you're going in two years right? Maggie will know the truth, and I'll be fully grown by then. Nahuel can stay with the little one the rest of us can go to tell them, the truth is on our side. Then we can show them the little one after they know the truth. Besides he or she won't be a baby anymore they will look seven-ish." I can tell that Dermott and Huilen think it's a great idea while Nate is not sold on it.

"Why don't we just wait and see? We don't need to plan yet," Huilen say's. I am sure it's really just to keep Nate from saying no to his sister. Aurora just rolls her eyes and nods but we all hear the silent yeah right. Nate can't hold his tongue after that.

"I know you remember the Vampire we had to kill when you looked like a nine-year old. Be thankful we were with Zafrina at the time and she was able to stop him. Even after we told the truth he still said we were abominations and left us know choice. Would you really risk the Irish that way, would we even be able to stop them if we had to." Nate said scolding the others. I guess he did have a point, I don't know them but could Dermott use force against his other family if need be.

"We are not getting into this now, we can deal with it when the time comes." Huilen stated in a firm voice thus ending the conversation.

Trying to change the subject I ask how much longer they believed my pregnancy would last. Huilen is unsure because compared to her sister I was so healthy. Nate said two days at most, but he thought it would be tonight or tomorrow. He told me his answer was based on the date of conception and the information Jennifer shared with him. Aurora perked up when he said we had so little time,

"We have to get everything set up, in your rooms. All the baby stuff needs unpacking and we have to get more furniture." Then she was up and heading to the door at a fast human pace, she stopped and looked at me, with a big sigh "Come on Renée!"

Aurora and I spent the next hour unpacking what she already bought for the baby. She would randomly call out to the others, ideas she had. When she called out the demotions of the extra mattress I finally figure out what she was doing. She was calling things and the others were making them. She then asked me what my favorite color was.

"Teal, why?"

"Because I order everything in white patterned fabric so that we could dye it all here. We have to do your bedding and slipcovers for the furniture."

"Oh, um what do you mean bedding I won't need a bed, vampires don't sleep remember?" I said with a sarcastic tone. Aurora just rolled her eyes,

"I know that but you still may want one. Speaking of which are we setting you up downstairs, and the baby up here?"

"Sure that's fine I can keep my stuff down stairs I won't need to sleep, so no bed. Maybe just a room divider so I can keep a corner of the main room to myself?" I question

"Sure, we can make you a sitting area near the downstairs bathroom and closet. We can make curtain rods that hanging from the ceiling to use as the divider." I just nod at her rambling. I have no idea what she is talking about the downstairs was just a big empty space with a mountain of stuff off to one side. We walk downstairs to show me what she is talking about. I still can't get used to her being able to lift and move all the stuff by herself. She set up the couch and one of the chairs looking out towards the deck. She also put a TV still in the box, and a DVD player with it. She is moving around so fast now I can't really tell what she is doing. Nate shows up with the bookshelf and puts it near the closet and brings my boxes for me to unpack. Nate and I work together and have it all done in half an hour. Nate suggests that I take a break for dinner.

During my meal I talk with Nate about his wonderful family, and thank him for saving me. I also tried to apologize for upsetting him earlier and tell him that he puts too much pressure on himself. He would have none of it, he told me I had no reason to be sorry and pretty much blew off everything else I said. I could tell it was uncomfortable for him to discus and let it go, for now. He moves on to telling me about how he hopes the birth will go, he is convinced that if the baby understands what is happening, he or she will not struggle. He tells me that he would like both Aurora and Huilen to be with us when he delivers the baby, but that Dermott will stay out of the room if I want and I tell him it makes no difference to me. He tells me his plan for changing me is to inject the venom from a syringe rather than having to bite me. I told him that if the birth went well I would like a bit of time with the baby before the change, he looks ready to argue with me and I don't understand why.

"Renée, I will only change you if you life is at risk. I can't turn you if you're going to be fine." I see Huilen over his shoulder; she knows how I feel about this. I won't let them be in danger just to keep me human. I give her a look that I hope conveys my choice. I have to be changed. If I live past the birth I'll get her to do later, keeping eye contact she nods and slips back out of the room. Our conversation is stifled after Nate says he won't change me unless he has to.

Aurora comes to get me shortly after the conversation dies out, and Nate heads up to his room. I know this situation is trying his patients. When we get to the rooms, I'm amazed the whole place is set up. It looks like a page out of a catalog. I now have a living room area and a small café set to eat at near the mini kitchen that I never noticed before. The kitchen is the size of what you would find in an RV or tiny efficiency apartment, with a mini fridge and small sink. Aurora then drags me over to my area the curtains are not up yet but it looks amazing now that I don't have to try to visualize it. It is a pie shaped area with a double wide lounge chair, the dresser is between the bathroom and the closet door, while the bookcase on what will be a fabric wall.

"Aurora, this is unbelievable, thank you so much. I can't wait to see it after we dye all the fabrics." I give her a hug. "Where are Dermott and Huilen? I need to thank them as well."

"Oh the vam-praents went out to hunt when we finished setting up. They'll be back, but probably not until you're asleep." She shrugs' it off, as if it's no big deal, but I know that they are all hunting a lot so that if I bleed a lot when the baby comes they won't be tempted. We decide to die the sofa and chair cushions navy-blue and use an aqua color for the accents and my room dividers. While she is mixing dye in the downstairs bathtub she sends me up to get showered. Reminding me to "shave it, if I don't want it forever."

The upstairs is still simple; it is just a room with two beds one on each side of the room. The new bed or crib as they called it is amazing; it's set up like a canopy daybed with high railing on three sides the front one is folded down. The four posts of the bed pulled together in the center of the bed about six feet higher than the mattress. Then they are covered by a white mosquito netting. I can't believe Dermott built it in a few hours, it's more like a work of art that a bed. This child will never want for anything with a family like this.

Rather than shower I decided to take a cool bath. I shaved my legs as well as I could without seeing much, giggling about Aurora's comment from earlier. I wonder if she could cut my hair in the morning. After I finished my nightly routine I call out good night and my thanks to everyone before going to bed.

**_N - P.O.V._**

I think that we have everything ready for the baby's arrival now their living space is ready. I five syringes of venom, and plastic to drape the bed and floor with so we don't have to worry about getting blood on anything. The cleanup should be easy. All we have to do is get the plastic and her clothes far enough away that we can't smell it then burn them. Right now both girls are in Renee's space, telling her stories about Zora's and my childhood. They are also giving her a makeover; apparently she needed a haircut and asked for Zora to help. Now they have turned her bathroom into a makeshift spa. I find it odd that she could go into labor any time now and they are doing each other's nails.

Huilen and Dermott both spent a long time last night trying to convince me that we should change Renée no matter what. I just don't see a reason. We stay clear of the Volturi and other vampires with a few select exceptions. No one would have to know that she knows about Vampires. I just can't allow myself to end her life, maybe if she waited a year or so and truly knew what she was in for then I would not mind her begin changed but I can't be the one to do it.

"Um, it's time." I hear Renée say interrupting Zora mid story. Huilen is quick to respond, and I'm already flashing towards the upstairs room with all the supplies.

"That's fine, you and the little one just stay calm. Take your time, as you get out of the tub. Then we will get you dressed and up stairs." I hear the water splashing in the tub as she gets out of the tub they are all quiet now. Huilen starts to hum a song. I hear Zora approaching me fast I look up just as she makes it to the door. She pulls me into a big hug and says whispers so softly that I don't think the others can hear her.

"No matter what happens, we did our best and she has a better shot than our mom's ever did. That's thanks to you Nahuel."

Huilen and Renée slowly made it up the baby's room. Renée heart was only slightly elevated and the babies' heart rate was the same as it always has been. Huilen sent Zora to get a bowl of ice water and a bottle of water for Renée. Renée was wearing a long dark green sundress and had her now shorter hair tied back with a bandanna. She and Huilen quietly spoke to each other. Also reminding the baby to stay calm as they paced around the room, an hour passed before Renée was ready to sit down. When she did she called me over looked me straight in the eye and said,

"Thank you, you have done so much for me and this child. Your mother would be proud, and know you don't see it as a big deal but I know this is hard for you. So no matter what happens, thank you."

I had to swallow several times and clear my throat before I could speak.

"You're most welcome."

She gave me a weak smile and then moved my hands to her belly so I could feel the contraction. Renée finally felt it was time to push after three hours of getting up and down from the bed and much pacing around the room. She had tears streaming down her face as she sat on the edge of the bed leaning back into Huilen arms. We let her take her time just doing what her body told her, twenty minutes after she began to push she wanted me to look. When I did I was shocked to see the baby crowning. It only took two more big pushes and the baby was out.

"It's a girl Renée, let me get her wrapped up and I'll give her to you." I went to cut the umbilical cord and broke the scissors. I just stared wide eye or a second. Snapping back into reality I figure out that the cord was vampire strong. I could not bite it off because of the venom. The only one who could, was Zora. I finally looked down at the baby in my arms, she has lots of wet dark hair and huge light brown eyes, she was just watching patiently. I called Zora over to quiet for Renée to hear, and tell what I need her to do. Zora looked like she would be ill but just nodded, handed her the baby and wiped the cord clean. Huilen overheard us and was holding Renée's attention, so she wouldn't see Zora. Zora took a deep breath and let out then bit the cord off in a very quick motion. Then took the baby to Renée. She passed Renée the child after reminding her not to bite mommy.

"Hey baby girl, I'm your mommy and this is our family. Your big sister Aurora is the one who just hand you to me, your Aunt Huilen is behind me. Nate or Nahuel is the one you know the best, he is your big brother and he saved us." She was cooing sweet nothing at the baby then she grimaced a bit and asked "Aurora would you take Isabella Marie, I think it's time for the placenta" Zora quickly grabbed the baby telling us she was just going to take her into the bathroom to clean up.

After ten minutes of pushing the placenta was starting to show. Isabella was wide-awake in her mother's arms watching everything, and I noticed her eyes were following my bloody hands. I sent Zora to get her some blood at vampire hearing level. I really didn't want to worry Renée.

As Renée feed Isabella I noticed the texture of the placenta and started to panic, it too was like vampire skin. I sent Huilen a panicked look she was next to me in less than a second. I had not planned for this.

"Just give it more time but, be ready to change her if need be," was all Huilen said. Ten more minutes passed. With me watching the placenta intently while the girl's are cooing at the baby, before the placenta was finally released from her body. My relief was short-lived as Renée started bleeding heavily, after two minutes she had gone pale as the sheet and pass out. I knew I had to change her. I took the syringes without a second thought and became to inject them. First left femoral artery then right, I moved to her upper body and laid the Isabella down on her chest right arm then left. I am reaching towards the baby as Renée let out her first scream. When she screamed Huilen, Zora and myself were flung back into the walls of the room. Isabella growled and hissed as we approached them, then began nuzzling into Renée chest. Then she looked up at us with one green eye and one light brown.

**_an: as always please review and let me know what you are thinking. Also I would really like a beta or proofreader, let me know if you would like to help._**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended. 11/20/12_**


	8. focus

**_Chapter 8 – Focus_**

**_N-P.O.V._**

Dermott floated up the steps having heard us hit the floor and the growling and hissing that came from Isabella. He stopped in the doorway and quickly eyed each of us looking for any injury, then scanned the room for danger. Renée was still crying out in pain and would not be stopping for three days we had to figure this out. I called Isabella's name and slowly walk towards them. I was stopped approximately five feet from the bed by an invisible wall. I took half a step back, and began to speak,

"Isabella, are you doing this? Do you want us to leave you and your mommy alone?" She looked fearful and then Renée let out a loud shriek.

"She's going to be OK. Remember when we talked to her about the burning she would feel if she had to be changed into a vampire. That's what is happening to her now." Isabella's eyes grew even sadder, tears began to fall. She did not whine or whimper she just had tears falling. Renée began to thrash beneath her, the movement made her fall off of Renée's chest and onto the mattress. She was now hidden from my sight. I was on Renee's left and Isabella was on her right. I put my hand out to touch the wall. It was still in front of me I kept my hand on it as I walk to the right side of the bed. It was not a wall I realized as I walked. It was more of a dome, eight feet of space that we could not enter with Isabella in the center. Now that I could see her, I speak again, this time I was a bit louder to try to hold her attention.

"Isabella, I want to help, remember all the times I promised to do my best to keep you both safe? I am still trying to do that but I can't help if I can't get to you or mommy."

I was standing right up against the dome my toes were pressed into it, that way I could feel it without be obvious.

"Do you want my help? I would like to hold you and get your mom cleaned up a bit. I know that you can smell the blood, I want to clean it all up but I can't because you won't let me in. Let me Isabella, so I can help you and your mom."

With my toes I felt the dome soften then disappear altogether.

"OK, I am going to come and pick you up now". I took a hesitant step forward, and then Zora mumbled out.

"Thank God" And I was back on my ass five feet from where I stood a split second ago. I shot Zora a glare and started forward speaking only to Isabella.

"That's OK let me back in. That was just Aurora did you forget that they were all still here, you can't see them from where you are, they are on the other side of the room."

The dome dropped and I slowly walk forward maintaining eye contact with her. I pick her up gently, and turn her so she could see everyone else. They all smiled softly but said nothing.

"OK - you and I are going to sit on the other bed and let Zora and Huilen clean up." I walk across the room with her in my arms, making sure she could see everything that was happening. We sat down and I wave the others forward. I kept a running commentary about everything they are doing so that Isabella would not worry. She had a strong grip on my pointer finger the whole time and when was louder Renée she would grip harder. That gave me the idea that Isabella could answer yes or no questions, so I explained to her that I wanted her to squeeze once for yes and twice for no. We carried on like this for a half hour before she looked like she was getting sleepy. Every time Renée cried in pain, her eyes would pop open.

"I know you are getting sleepy little one, how about we go out into the woods so you can rest?" She squeezed twice

"No, why not? You can take a nap then I'll bring you back. Huilen and Dermott will stay with your mom to keep her safe. Would that be OK?" She eyed Huilen who was speaking softly to Renée trying to comfort her and then squeezed my finger just once. I left the room without a word and headed into the main part of the house, I set Isabella down on the sofa, I flashed to unhook my hammock and grabbed my i-pad, stuffing them both into my backpack.

Once we were out of hearing range I set up the hammock and lay down with Isabella on my chest. She fell asleep in seconds while I hummed the same song Huilen was humming while Renée was in labor. While she slept, my mind ran though the events of the day for hours.

I realize now that in my panicked state I did not voice my decision to change Renée. So Isabella had no idea what was going on when her mother started to scream. She reacted instinctively when her dome popped up protecting herself and her mother. She will have to learn to control her gift; it's very powerful and could lead to exposure in the human world if she can't control it. I drifted to sleep myself while trying to think of ways to help Isabella control her gift.

When I woke it was still dark out, I could hear Zora heart beating a few yards away but made no effort to move. She, like Isabella, was asleep. Still contemplating the events of the day before, I now focused on Renée.

It saddens me that she had to be changed but she had no other option. Joham really did sentence her to death, even with all my efforts she could not be saved and remain human. I was very happy that we were able to make the Isabella's birth more peaceful than Zora's or mine. It gave me a little hope that if I am able find more hybrid mothers in the future we can at least change them without them having to suffer the child ripping its way out of their mother's body. I hear Zora waking up and slowly move to sit up without disrupting the little one. With Isabella still in my arms I sit at the base of the tree face the direction Zora should come from. When I see her, I put my finger to my lips, telling her to keep quiet. Zora rolls her eyes still walking silently towards us. I point to my backpack, she grabs it and sets it next to me while peering down at Isabella. I pull out my i-pad, and type out a message then pass it to her. We pass it back and forth of a few hours silently communicating about Isabella and Renée change.

Isabella begins to stir, I wave Zora off so she is not too close when the little one wakes. When she wakes, I reintroduce her to Zora. Then we head back to the house to see Renée. Our day is spent taking turns reading to or talking with Isabella and trying to talk Renée through the change. When Zora, Isabella and I go back into the forest for the night I am thankful for the quiet.

**_R – P.O.V._**

I am in pain. No, pain is not the correct word for what I am feeling. I feel like I have been put into a tub of acid and it's slowly eating my flesh from my bones. My bones feel as if they are glowing from the heat of a fire that burns from within them. Words sometimes enter my mind but I can't hold them for long.

". . . Isabella's back now, she's doing great you don't have to worry. ."

". . .just remember, we are all here to help. . "

". . .then Dermott and I will take you hunting. . ."

I have no idea how long it's been but I'm now able to think, sort of. I still process the pain but can think around it. I know that I am being changed into a vampire. It takes three days if I remember correctly.

I try to think about what else I know, Nate brought me someplace. I think that I have met his family. They must be the ones that are turning me into a vampire. They're different, not what I thought vampires would be like. I keep trying to think but the burning is pulling my focus.

". . . Can you hear Isabella's heartbeat she is laying on your chest now? Can you feel her, your baby's doing great. They grow so fast at this stage you will be amazed. . "

I do feel a weight on my chest, the vibration of her heartbeat and her breath on my collarbone. Isabella that name sparks a flood of memories. I hold on to them, the past three days I play over and over in my head while I burn. Like flashes behind my eyes, Jon, Nate, Aurora, Huilen, Dermott and my baby girl Isabella. I see their faces and remember the words they spoke. I concentrate hard to think around the burn. Time passes, I have know idea how much, but now I can feel the tips of my fingers and toes no longer burn. The pain that came on so fast is very slowly receding, they keep telling me or reminding me of what to expect. Soon the burning will only be in my heart then once it stops beating it will only be in my throat. I wonder if it will burn as much as it does now. Still I wait and still they talk.

My heart stopped beating and I do not move a muscle. In my head I run through everything they said, I would be disoriented, thirsty and act on my instincts only according to them. Nate had suggested I hold my breath but that felt strange, so I inhaled. It was astonishing, I could taste and smell the air like never before. I knew it was coming and still had a hard time wrapping my mind around it. Then I opened my eyes, it was like I had never seen clearly in all my life, everything in my line of sight was unbelievably clear. With another breath I decided to stand, before the thought was fully formed, I was on my feet. Then saw Huilen and Dermott standing ten feet in front of me and drop into a crouch without thought. With the next breath I stood upright, they gave me a small smile. Huilen held her hands up in front of her like she was stopping traffic and I froze.

"You're doing great Renée, what do you remember?" she asks is a very soft voice

"Everything." Dermott raised a brow, so I further explained.

"Well, maybe not everything, but everything to do with Vampires and Hybrids. I know who you are and that we need to hunt before I see Isabella. We only hunt animals, it won't taste as good but it will stop the burning in my throat." The whole time I spoke, the burning got worse and my hand went to my throat without thinking about it. Dermott gave me a big smile.

"Great, then lets get going" he held out his hand to me, I looked at for a full second before taking it slowly. Then we jump off the deck and drop into the forest below.

As we returned to the house I thought over the hunt I could barely remember it. They brought me close to a strange looking heard of deer and told me to focus on the sound of the blood in the veins of the animal. I did as they said then Huilen whispered at me to let go. The next thing I knew I was covered in blood and had six dead deer around me. After that they took me to find a carnivore telling me they had better flavor. While I do agree the smallish jungle cat tasted better, none of it was great. Dermott praised my focus, saying that he was impressed that I was able to think straight long enough to know that I should not just run aimlessly to find something that appealed to me. I told him that I just kept thinking about the risks.

Aurora met up with us a few minutes from the house, as we heard her heartbeat Dermott grabbed my hand.

"They don't smell like food but just incase." I rolled my eyes at him.

"I remember what they smell like – they smell good but not in a food way. Besides I don't think I could drink any more I swear I can hear it sloshing around in my stomach." Huilen just giggled at me. Dermott made no move the release me, but I did not mind. He had bad experiences with newborns, that strange girl his friend changed and in Volterra they had an army to control them if need be. Aurora approaches slowly.

"So how did it go Renée? Are you ready to get cleaned up then see Isabella?" I shrug

"Hunting was. . . Well, the blood didn't taste too great but running is fun. And I can't wait to see Isabella."

"That's great, we will have you cleaned up in no time. Then I'll take you to the spot Nate, Isabella and I are camping out at." I look at the others wondering why she is not in the house.

"Why are they camping?"

"It's only four o'clock in the morning Renée she's asleep and you woke up from the change after she went to bed for the night. Isabella wouldn't let herself fall asleep with you crying out. So we took her out of hearing range to let her rest, that's all," Aurora tells in a teenage tone that screams duh. I guess I had not noticed how dark it was, or how loud I was while changing.

"Alright, let's go"

.

**_Question for the readers, what would you like to read next?_**

**_Summary of the first year?_**

**_Summary 6 months?_**

**_Should Renée have a power?_**

**_Let me know what you think and check out pics for story the link is on my profile_**

**_an: I would really like a beta or proofreader let me know if you would like to help._**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended. 11/21/12_**


	9. time waits for no one

**Chapter 9 – Time waits for no one**

**_N – P.O.V._**

Zora and Renée are back at the house working on Isa' birthday plans, while we have her out in the forest playing a game of capture the flag Vampires vs. Hybrids. Playing capture the flag is one of the few times Isa lets her hair down so to speak. A game can last days when we play it started as a way for us to teach Renée and Isa to use their scenes while not hunting down prey. Isa always hides our flag high in the treetops where the others have a hard time finding it. Even if they see it, they can't get to it easily because as adults we weigh so much more than she does the branches break.

She discovered this when technique while playing tag, she would jump from tree to tree rather than running because she was faster that way, then she figured out we could only follow her so far before the branches would break. I think we were all shocked at how fast she figured out how to beat us all. Tag and Hide n' Seek where also games we used to teach them about their senses. I had also hoped it would trigger Isa' protective side and she would use her dome to keep from being tagged.

Dermott and I spent hours discussing ways to trick her into using it, however it never worked. We tried sneaking up on her to startle her, picking fights with Renée to see if she would protect her again. We even went as far as to have Renée pretend to attack Zora while teaching Renée to fight. We came to the conclusion that because she trusted us she was not in danger.

Then one day while just Isa and I were gathering her favorite berries to bring back to the house, she asked me about it.

"Aren't you bored with your games yet?" she asked, as I was just about to pounce on her. "I mean, wouldn't it be easier if you just asked?"

"What are you talking about Isa?" she looked over her shoulder at me and rolled her eyes.

"Come on Nate, you and all the others having been trying to get me to use my shield ever since I started to walk. Why not just ask it if I can do it?" She was right of course, we had never asked her about it. Dermott and I had both been so sure that it was instinct and she would need to use it to figure it out. When I told her as much she just smiled and said,

"Well, then I guess you will have to wait and see now won't you." She giggled as sprung into the trees, to head home leaving the basket for me to run back to the house. I grab the basket and made to start after her, only to be stopped by the doom. I moved to the left thinking I would just go around it when I was stopped once more. Then her laughter filled the air,

"Well, I didn't make you wait long but now you see. Just remember I get frustrated with Zora, and Mom, for treating me like a little kid please don't start doing the same thing." I felt bad immediately; she would always just smile and nod though their antics.

"You're right, I'm sorry, I should have come to you."

Renée and Zora often forgot that Isa was not really a little kid and wanted to do things she considered silly like, playing dress up, reading bedtime stories and generally fussing over her. She started venting to me about it in the past month or so, but she let always let them have their fun.

That first long conversation, was why I now called her Isa both Renée and Zora refer to her as "Baby Bella" and it drivers her up the wall. Bella is very mature, not just compared to a human child of her physical age but just in general. She likes to think before she acts, would rather read than watch TV, loves all types of music but hates trendy teen pop.

The only thing that she does that makes her seem young, is that she asks "why?" It's not like the normal way that kids ask, why can't I do this or that and why do I have to do that. It's her inquisitive nature, she truly wants to know why everything is the way it is. From why the shy is blue, to why Dermott felt the need to leave his home with the Irish coven. She spends hours on her i-pad looking up the answers and hours speaking with Huilen, Dermott and me asking why we did the things we did in the past.

Renée, Zora and even Dermott to some extent think that she is too serious and often try to get her to have more "fun." She does enjoy the games we play, she simply tolerates other things, like family movie night when Zora or Renée pick a silly teen movie, or my personal favorite when they dance. Renée and Zora are both You-tube fanatics and enjoy recreating music videos. When they make Isa get involved it's very amusing only because of the look on her face, but when she always does it just to make them happy.

My thoughts are interrupted by Isa' approach, I must admit she less noticeable on an approach than the others. It's so easy to recognize the sound of footfalls whereas if you don't know its Isa coming, you may not even pay attention to the noise she makes. She drop from the tree twenty feet in front of me, stating.

"Dermott tagged me out. I may have to let everyone in on my shield just to be able to win this game. It's not very fair when it's Vampire vs. Hybrids when we can't run as fast as them." She has a slight pout; her hair is wild and wind blown. Zora and Renée are going to make her clean up before bed I'm sure.

We are walking at human pace back towards the house.

"That's your choice; you can let them in on it whenever you want. I am still not sure I understand why you don't want them to know?"

"It's simple really, the same reason you don't let vampires know about you, even now when you don't look like an Immortal Child. If everyone knows, they might slip and say something to our other sisters when they visit. I'm the only hybrid with a power that you know of. What would Joham do with that information? I will just use it when I am alone or with you, no one can say anything if they don't know." She is right about Joham, but I still wish everyone knew.

"I really don't think they would say anything."

"I didn't mean they would do it on purpose but, both Mom and Zora tend to speak before they think and it's just not worth the risk. Daddy dearest's side of the family sounds like they have enough troubles without Joham try to get them to come and kidnap me for my power. I think Serena will be mad enough when she finds out Aurora and I are with you."

She has a valid point, I am not sure I will be able to speak to Maysun until she decides to leave Joham for more than a visit. I merely hum, in acknowledgement. I think Zora could hold the secret but Renée can be scatterbrained. I was hoping it's something she grows out when she is past her newborn year, but with only two weeks to go I am thinking that's just who she is. I just worry the others will be hurt by us not sharing the information. We remain silent for a while as we walk through the night, I look down at Isa and she is chewing on her bottom lip and watching the ground, it's odd behavior for her.

"Isa, what's wrong? I'm not telling them till you're ready, don't worry about that." She looks up at me with tears in her eyes. I grab her hand and stop walking because this is so unlike her.

"It's just I know they will be hurt by me not telling them but I just can't. I still have more to tell you about it, but I don't want you to be mad at me." The tears are falling and her chin is quivering as she holds back a sob.

I sit on the forest floor and pull her into a hug. I just hold her for a couple of minutes while she cries, and tries to get herself under control. Seeing her like this, makes me think that we all had a hand in making her so serious. I spoke to her every night while she was in Renée telling her to stay calm, not to hurt her mommy and that I would find a way to keep her safe. While Renée just keep up a running commentary of what she was doing or what still had to be done and telling about her wonderful father. The very same man I was promising to keep her safe from. Also overheard everything we said to Renée before she was changed, all the of cold hard facts about why we live the way we do Isa remember in detail.

"I promise not to be mad, whatever it is you have to let it out. I know you're not a kid but you are too young to try to deal with everything alone. We can deal with together, just you and me if that's what you need." She has been holding this in for a while, and I must be really bothering her. She takes a big breath and starts.

"The first time I used my shield. . ." She tells me about her shield and how it works. I can tell from the way she talks about it that she has spent a lot of time getting it under her control. She can make cover the whole tree house, or just one of us at a time. We don't even notice when she practices, she can cover us in our own bubble and allow us to move around. She can allow things to pass trough the shield like the walls of the tree house or use it to push things out of her way.

When her shield covers us, we all have our aura like spark, she can lie in bed and know who is where just by putting it up. Then she says what she thinks is the bad part. Renée has a gift and because Isa' shield came in contact with it she now has the same gift. Isa describes Renée power as subtle. She calls it intuition, when she makes a choice she gets a feeling and knows if it's a good choice or bad. When someone else voices a choice out loud or we discuss things as a family it works then too. She gave the example of us meeting up with the Amazon Coven; she was glad that everyone but Zora and Renée wanted to wait to meet up with them because every time it was brought up she would have a bad feeling. However, now that it has been decided that we would go meet them after her birthday she had a good feeling.

"I want to tell mom to stop ignoring her feelings, but every time I decide I am going to do it a feeling of dread comes over me. It's so strong, it's the same feeling I get when I think about telling everyone about my shield. So I've decided to trust it, I just don't understand how she can go against it."

I can't even think I am so overwhelmed by everything she told me. She waits calmly for me to say something, finally I calmly ask.

"What did your feeling say when you wanted to tell me, not this time but in the past?"

"Um, sorta indifferent I wasn't really sure what to do with it so I just waited and then tonight when we were talking about the physical part of the shield, I decided to tell you no matter what, it was a great _feeling_."

"OK well, you and I still have to work out what that indifferent feeling means. For now anytime your feeling says indifference and it's just you and me go for it and see what happens." She giggles out OK, and we head back to the house.

**_R – P.O.V._**

I can't believe my little girl is turning one; she's growing up so fast. She's an amazing child when I woke from the change and came back from my first hunt I could not get over how beautiful she was. Sound asleep lying on Nate's chest she looked like an angel, her brown hair was already several inches longer and was hanging in loose curls framing her face. When she woke and I saw her eyes I was slightly confused because while I was changing I remembered what she looked and I knew she had light brown eyes. Nate told me about the odd doom she projected and said her right eye has been green ever since.

They warned me about the rapid growth I still didn't expect her to be as mature as she is. I always feel like I'm dealing with a small adult. I keep trying to remind her to have fun and to be a kid. Her childhood is already passing her by and I just want her to enjoy it. Huilen and I speak often about Bella's mental development, she reads for hours a day, asks some of the strangest questions and if none of can answer she just walks off to go find out for herself.

Huilen has already taught her Portuguese. I learned as well but only because Bella requested that they only speak it for a week straight after she and Huilen worked on it for a few hours. I try to come up with ideas for mother daughter bonding, sadly I think we just like to do different things.

Sometimes Aurora and I can get her to play dress up or dance with us, and I do make sure I read to her every night before bed. We all enjoy playing games like tag, hide n' seek and capture the flag in the forest. Bella is really free out there without the distraction of her books. She takes to the trees when we start, she reminds me of an acrobat or trapeze artist the way she swings from branch to branch without a care in the world. We are all very competitive and games last days with us sometimes only taking breaks for the hybrids to sleep.

Life as a Vampire has not been as hard as I expected, although Dermott is always reminding me that I haven't been around humans yet. The nagging thirst is not as bad as I anticipated it to be, I still hunt every three days but it is often because I get bored not because of the thirst. Can't wait until I prove my control and we move back into the human world.

The hard part about being a vampire what to do with all the time, I draw some, I have watched every DVD we own at least twice, and I go online a lot to look for places I want to go. The others try hard to distract me but it only works for a while before I am back online looking for places to travel to. I'm beginning to feel trapped out here in the rainforest. I have explored as much as I can without getting too close to the humans and I have seen all that the Jungle has to offer. I hope that the Amazons will travel with us towards a city that I can visit; I would really like to see Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires then get the hell out of South America.

Bella's thirst for knowledge is like my need to see things, while she seems pretty content living in the rain forest and learning online, I feel like I am going stir crazy. I need to get back to the human world to see things for myself, and meet new and different people.

That's why I think her birthday gift will be great for both of us, after we spend a month or so with the Amazon's we are having a family road trip around the US and parts of Canada, we are going to travel around and see all the sights together as a family. We are going to stretch it out over ten months.

The only states we are skipping Hawaii, Texas, New Mexico, Florida and Maine; Hawaii and Florida for obvious reasons, Texas and New Mexico because there are still established covens in the area left over from the newborn wars. Maine we will be skipping because of my human family, we can't run the risk of me running into someone who knew me. I think after our tour of North America we are heading to Europe; hopefully we can all meet up with the Irish Coven. By then we will be ready to settle down for a year, Bella will almost two by then and her growth will have slowed enough that we can stay under the radar as long as we don't parade her around town all the time.

AN: Thanks you for reading and please review! Bella's Birthday is up next and it will be from her POV.

_*A big thanks you, to snowgoose for being the beta for this story, be sure to check out her story Missing, it's a great read. *_

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended. 11/23/12_**


	10. happy birthday to me

**_Chapter 10 – Happy Birthday to me_**

**_B – P.O.V._**

I lay in bed awake but not yet ready to start the day. The sun is not up yet, I cast my shield around the house, and find that Nate and Zora are both still in bed as well. Mom, Huilen and Dermott are in the great room. I'm sure they are planning our trip, we leave today to track down the only coven of vampires that know about us hybrids.

I can't wait to meet them Huilen say that the members of the coven are so old that even they don't know the answer. The Amazon Coven are human drinkers, it should bother me but I just can't find it in me to care. They remember the Mayan's, even if they were turned at the end of the Mayan civilization, which makes them at least eleven hundred years old. I can't wait to hear the stories they have to tell.

Zora wanted to tell me all about them but I wouldn't let her. I put my foot down after she described them at feral looking, and told me how they moved in an animal like way. I wanted to form my own opinions about them. In the back of my mind I wonder if her description was why every time she and mom wanted to travel to see them in the past three months my intuition told me no.

I still can't figure out how my mother ignores it. Not that I want to ignore her gift, I would just like to understand how or why she pushes it aside.

I still have a few things left to pack for our trip, my i-pad and my extra pair of shoes. I'm still not real clear on why I need both sets of shoes considering I will outgrow them before I wear them out. We're going into the jungle to meet vampires who still dress in tribal wear, I'm sure they aren't going to care what I wear. But after going round and round with my dear sister I gave in letting her have her way. Now my birthday outfit is sitting out for me to put on then I must remember to pack those shoes as well when I change to leave.

I'm sure that she planned my outfit to color coordinate with moms or something along those lines for pictures. Mom and Zora have made a big scrapbook of my life thus afar with mostly pictures of just me do to the whole I age very fast while everyone is not aging at all or only slightly faster than humans. They love to put me in the in front of the camera, while I would love to never have one more photo taken of me "growing up." It's not as if we won't remember what I was like at any point during my childhood, perfect memory and all.

Mom has a hard time understanding that even as a child I'm just as smart as she is. She often expects me to act the age I look. She knows I am different from a human child, she has no issues with the things I can do physically its the mental side of things she can't seem to wrap her head around. I tried to explain it by telling her humans my age like to do things like jump rope or maybe coloring and then I asked her how long she could do those activities without being bored. It worked for a week then she seemed to revert into thinking I should be watching cartoon movies. So for a week we watched all the Disney movies.

I have watched all the Disney Princess movies at least twice as they were mom's favorites. The older ones are all the same, some prince rescuing a damsel in distress. The newer ones are better at least the princess can function without their prince. The Disney story of Mulan is pretty good, but not compared to the real story. I did thank her for having me watch them because the books and original fairy tales are good reads. It is the modern adaptations that are soft, watered down versions making the original message of the tail get somewhat lost. So at least for a while when she asked what I was doing I could answer reading or researching fairy tales. She loved that I was finally doing something she deemed more age appropriate.

While my mother and I have a hard time connecting. I love her dearly and perhaps when I look older our relationship will be more of what she thinks a mother-daughter relationship should be. Today I'll focus on trying to be more of a "normal" daughter; children's birthday parties are more for the parents anyway.

I hop out of bed when I notice the others are up and moving, go to the bathroom to rush my morning routine so that Zora can't come and do my hair or change my outfit. Mom greets me in my bedroom with big hugs and "Happy Birthday Baby Bella." I think getting her and Zora to stop calling me that would be the best gift.

"Wanted to be the first to wish you happy birthday and give your gift in private!" I roll my eyes internally, there is no such thing as private. Not that it bothers me but why say it if it isn't true. She hands me a purple gift bag.

"Thanks Mom" Inside the bag is a small square box and a flat box that's about five by seven, I look up wanting her to tell me which one to open first.

"Oh small one-first."

I rip open the paper, flip off the lid inside is a lovely sapphire art Deco ring with a chain in the bottom of the box.

"I love it Mom, thank you so much" I give her a hug and then place the ring that's too large on my finger just to look at it.

"Well, I know it won't fit yet, but I got you the chain to wear it on for now. I think the ring was your grandmother's. I know you have looked into our family history and thought you may like a piece to keep with you." She is right, I have been working on our family history, Dermott's as well, and this is a great present.

"It's perfect Mom." I put the ring on the chain, then put it on before tearing into the next box. When I get it open it's a post card of the Hollywood sign, I must say I am confused and have no idea what to say.

"Umm, thanks?" I don't mean to make it a question. Mom just snickers at me with a bright gleam in her eyes that I have never seen before.

"You'll see, come on time for your birthday breakfast."

We go to the great room and it has been decked out in purple streams and balloons. The whole family breaks out in song as we walk in the door. Zora is holding a large fruit tart with a very tall skinny birthday candle in the center. When the song is over, she pushes it towards me.

"Make a wish, Baby Bella."

I wish they would stop calling me that as I blow out the candle. I looked up why we have birthday candles the other day, it all started in Ancient Grease as offering to god and goddesses. When I tried to tell Mom about but she rolled her eyes and said who cares where it came from as long as your wish comes true, but Zora, Huilen and I spent the afternoon reading Greek mythology.

After Nate, Zora and I ate our tart, we moved on the presents. Dermott and Huilen got me a small digital camera and a post card of the skyline of Chicago. Zora gave me a small photo album that only holds one photo per page and an "I heart New York" post card. Nate gave me two extra memory cards for the camera and a post card from D.C. I thank them for all the thoughtful gifts, but still had no clue about the postcards.

"OK so what's the deal with the postcards?"

"Well, after we are done with then Amazons, we're taking you on a birthday road trip! It's going to be great we're driving all over the U.S. and Canada seeing all the sights. You'll have so much fun, Baby. Then after we bum around North America, we are heading to Europe!"

"Wow guys thanks so much, we should all have a great time," I try to happy but I failed miserably. I'm sure we would have fun, but I'm not too sure about leaving our home. I guess Dermott can see my mood falling fast because he cuts in with.

"Alright, everyone get your packs its time to head out!"

We all shot off to grab our packs and then meet up on the forest floor. We picked a spot to meet up at in four hours, so that we could split up to over more ground. Dermott told Mom not to approach any vampire smells. Although he said it was unlikely that we would find them this far north unless they were looking for us. I was sticking with Nate during the first leg of our search. I would have to get piggyback rides while we searched because I am so much smaller, I can't keep up unless I am in the trees. I can't track scents very well from the treetops when the scent is on the forest floor. So we each ran off in separate directions.

Nate and I ran in silence for a while, I was busy thinking about our road trip and who knows what Nate was thinking about. I don't get a good or bad feeling about this trip, and it's not the same indifference as I have had in the past. I feel nothing from mom's intuition about the road trip. I need to know why. Every little choice we make comes with a twinge of something from mom's gift. I keep thinking it over as I repeat 'every little choice' over in my mind it hits me. This is too big of a choice with to many smaller choices involved. So I will have to break it down into smaller parts.

I think about us going to D.C. , that choice seems fine. Then I move on to New York, I get the indifferent feeling; Chicago seems like a good choice, Hollywood is indifferent. I am not sure what to make of it all and I would like to talk to Mom about her gift but that gives me the sinking feeling in my stomach. I will just have to go over it with Nate instead. After all I did promise to keep him in the loop. I don't know how to start it's not like I have figured what it means.

"So about the road trip. . ." I start to tell him but then trail off.

"I know it's not really your thing but you'll have fun and see some great places, everyone's excited to show you some of their favorite spots" I feel bad immediately

"No, no that's not what I was going to say, I mean it will be fun to get out there and see things and while I am not real sure how I feel about not having a place to call home, the rest of it sounds great."

"Well, why did you sound so apprehensive when you brought it up. Do you get a bad feeling about it?"

"No, that's just it when Mom said we were going, I got nothing that's never happened before. So I have been thinking trying to figure out why?"

"Your favorite thing to do, figure out why." Nate chuckles out.

"Yeah, Yeah, make fun of me on my birthday I see how it is. Fine, see if I tell you what I figured out." I retort mockingly, because Huilen said Nate was just as bad as I am when they first moved into the human world he couldn't get his hands on enough information either.

"OK you're right, tell me what you think you know." Nate and Dermott both always tease me about thinking I know something. I can't help but snap at him a bit.

"Fine. It's too big of a choice with too many parts. We are not making one decision but many smaller ones. I was thinking smaller and choose to go to the cities from the postcards. D.C. and Chicago are good choices but New York and Hollywood are indifferent."

"OK so we just break the road trip down into small choices. That sounds good to me, but this trip will give you a chance to see what will happen if you go against your intuition, because with us traveling for that long someone is going to go against your feeling at some point."

"I'm sure you're right. I just don't know if Mom has really thought about it. I mean her post card was in Hollywood, so we go to Hollywood, what are the vampires going to do about the sun. We can't go to a movie opening or anything like that cause she would end up on Access Hollywood. I just think, no feelings, this is going to a hard trip for her." I can see mom wanting to do stuff then being upset because she can't.

"Isa, you worry so much let us all figure it out together. She has a list of stuff she wants to see we will find away to make it work." I hope he is right but for now we need a plan to make all work.

When we all met up I switched off to Zora, her pack was so big that she made Nate carry it because we couldn't find a way to work it out otherwise. We only had a three-hour run this time till we would reach the designated camping spot.

I traveled in the trees for the first hour of our time together. I love flipping and swinging from branch to branch, the best part is when I'm completely air born, it's like flying. That would have been a cool power to have, way better than a shield that makes me pick up other powers. I think I am starting to hate Moms power. It wouldn't be too bad if she used it too, but I feel like I have to use it to our family's advantage by helping to keep us safe. It's not like the shield that I can just toss out around us then none can touch us, this power takes time, I feel like I have to look at each choice we make and don't like that I am second guessing everyone's choices.

With the road trip I have to find out where we are planning to start it, then track the choices from that point forward. I'm sure that we will start on one of the coasts, East or West? I chose east first and seems good, then I chose West the _feeling_ of dread I get is almost as bad as when I choose to tell everyone about my powers. So we have to start our trip on the East coast that's a good or safe starting point.

I hop off of a branch, onto Zora's back knocking her off her feet in the process, I giggle a bit but it really was an accident. She growled at me when she stood up, I could tell it wasn't going to end well, but burst out laughing anyway. I couldn't help it Miss Pris is dirtier than I have ever seen her and her hair is a mess.

"What the hell Bella? I am just running along and you drop out of thin air, knocking my ass to the ground and getting me all dirty! Now you're laughing about it." I know she's mad but I still can't stop giggling,

"I'm sorry, really," giggle. "I have never been able to get the drop on you before," giggle, "I didn't do to on purpose, I was just bored and wanted to talk." She huffs, wiping the dirt off her clothes, while glaring at me. I bite my lip to keep from laughing some more.

"Aw hell Bella, I got a hole in my shirt, I only brought ten and you wreaked one on the first day," She growled out. I have never seen this side of her she is really pissed. I put on the puppy dog eyes, but can't even do that without giggling so I just smile at her and say

"I thought all big sisters expect their little sisters to ruin their stuff."

"Fine, whatever you say, just hop on and let get a move on." Zora huffs out. I hop up letting her calm down for a bit.

"You can't stay mad at me its my birthday! I wanted to talk with you about our road trip we need to start planning. I wanted to know where you want to go first?"

"New York City of course, just think of the all shopping, Broadway plays, there is lots of history for you and Dermott loves the architecture."

"Do you think Mom will be OK with that many people? If we stay in the city, she can't hunt."

"I guess your right. We should stay outside of the city, probably up state."

"What if we don't start in New York, say we fly to the east coast and work our way up to New York. Oh - we could do Christmas and New Years in New York!" I know she is over the moon about that idea, because she lets out a big squeal.

The rest of our run Zora is going on and on about the trip, none of the things she is suggesting give me a bad feeling but not many of them appeals to me really either. I think she and Renée will have similar taste when it comes to things they want to see, I don't mind going to the places they want. I just have some things I would really like to see as well. At least with Zora starting to map out the trip I can get a handle on what mom's intuition tells me.

**_A/N: Please send reviews; if you do I'll give you a hint about what happens next!_**

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

_* Big thank you to snowgoose who is a great beta*_

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended. 12/4/12_**


	11. plotting

**_*I posted twice today - be sure you read 10 1st.*_**

**_Chapter 11 - Plotting_**

**_D – P.O.V._**

I know something is bothering Bella, she has been looking more thoughtful than normal at night before they rest. She has always been an observer, watching every one around her looking for the hidden reactions. While I think Renee's stress level has been decreasing steadily since her change I believe that Bella's has been climbing higher.

The past year has shown me that you can never know how anyone will react. We all had expectations of what would happen when Nahuel called us back to the tree house to meet Joham latest victim. I had expected the woman, Renée, to be fearful as a human and act as a typical newborn after the change, if she made it that far. Our expectations for the child were that he or she would behave similarly to Aurora. With all high-tech advancements of the area Aurora's childhood was not that different from a humans nowadays, she was far more intelligent but still seems to enjoy life and behaves like most modern teens.

Renée as a human had put all of her faith in Nahuel, and trusted him completely by the time we were introduced. I had assumed it was this trust that allowed her to take everything we said as fact. When Huilen and I, spoke with her privately she made it clear that she would not risk our family to try to stay human. She wanted to be changed to eliminate whatever risks to her child that she could. Nothing seemed to bother her; she just rolled with the punches. Her change went well; she was nothing like the out of control newborn that Robert made, or even the one's I was witness to while in Volterra. She was able to think with some clarity, from the moment she woke up. After many hours of questioning her about her change, we think that her level of control was a side effect of knowing what was happening to her at the time.

However after spending a year with Renée I now know that her calm reaction to the situation that brought her into this life was nothing more than her impulsive nature. She is always on the move, trying this and that; she starts to do something and moves on before she even makes it half way through. I had hoped that it was part of her newborn lack of concentration and that she would outgrow this trait. However it has only gotten stronger, she seems to only be able to focus on our family road trip for any length of time.

The road trip was her idea for Bella's big birthday gift; and I must say it was the most selfish gift she ever could have given. Renée has been so focused on getting back into society that she pushes everything else to the wayside. I do think the trip will be a good experience for Bella, and even Zora to an extent. The trip is a good way to interact with humans while Bella is still growing so fast. I pretty sure that Renée came up with the idea to go for Bella's birthday thinking that we would be less likely to deny her request, and it puts Renée back within the human world a year prior to what we had planned. I'm sure she see's it as a win, win situation.

Poor Bella had been so excited to search out the Amazon's before her birthday road trip was announced. This is our third day of searching, Renée is get discouraged while Bella just seems lost in thought all the time when we meet up or have family talks at night which have been centered on the road trip. I don't think I have seen her smile since she told us about her accidentally knocking Aurora to the ground when she drop out of a tree onto her back, that was our first day out. She has only been running with Nahuel and Aurora, at our next stop I am going to see if she will come with me and we can talk about what's bothering her.

I was the first to arrive at our meeting spot, and still had forty-five minutes before the others were due to arrive. I used my time to think about Bella's resent behavior. It was not unlike her to be contemplative; I am however a little concerned that she has been for such a long stretch of time. We all had noticed that she came home from our last game of capture the flag looking more relaxed than she had been in months. I assumed she and Nahuel had a good talk, and worked out something that had been stressing her. But now that she knows about the road trip she is radiating stress once more. Maybe she just doesn't want to go on the trip. I can't begin to think of a reason why she would not want to go, but I'm clearly missing something.

The others arrive and we pick out our next meeting spot before we set off once more. Huilen has decided on running with Renée to see if she knows what is bothering Bella. Bella took me up on my offer to travel we me for the afternoon, as soon as we were out of hearing range I started.

"Bella, I know that something has been bothering you. Is it anything that I can help with?"

"Bothering is not a strong enough word." she muttered. I was stunned she never complains about anything, and her standard response when she gets this way is 'I'm fine' so for her to admit that something is more than bothering, she has me on instant alert.

"How can I help?"

"I'm not sure that you can, but I could really use a distraction how about you tell me a story."

"I'm not sure that will do any good, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"For now, just the story then we shall see."

So for then next hour I told her about Demetri the tracker for the Volturi. Amun turned Demetri around one thousand A.D. and they became great friends. Together they spent a centuries developing his tracking power. After they figured it out they played a worldwide version of hide and seek where Amun tried to evade Demetri for two straight years. No matter how far away he was Demetri could always find Amun. Demetri had once told me that he could find any vampire he has ever met or that has come in contact with someone he meets. He tracks them not by scent; he follows the essence of their mind.

When I had known him he had never met anyone he could not find. The Volturi heard of his powerful gift and offered him a spot in the guard. Because it was such an honor he accepted and left Amun behind. While Demetri is comfortable with his life in the guard he sometimes still misses his creator. I went on to tell her about how he helped to track down the immortal children as well as Benito the vampire who began the vampire wars in Central America.

"Well, while that was not a Mom approved bedtime story, I do love to hear about our history and the powers you have come across over the years, Thanks for the distraction it really helped." When I looked over my shoulder she was smirking at me not her real smile, but it was better than nothing.

"Now that you're feeling a bit better why don't we talk about the real problem? I am pretty sure that the road trip has you worked up, but I don't know why?" I asked in what I hoped was a carefree voice. She sighed loudly.

"It's not the trip it's self that has me worked up; I am just worried about Mom. She has been solely focused on 'getting back to the human world' I am worried about how she will handle it all."

"Are you just concerned about your mother's bloodlust or thirst causing her problems?" I am not the least bit surprised that this would concern her, but it seems too small to be causing this much stress.

"No, it's not that as much as the other stuff." I am not really following her train of thought. I stop running now, needing to see her face as we have this talk. We sit Indian style facing each other.

"What other stuff?"

"Umm, just look at where she wants to go, she gave me a postcard of the Hollywood sign, and then last night she was talking about being able to swim in the ocean again." She looks so sad now, I can see why she is worried now. "It's like she thinks when she get back to America things will just go back to being the way they were before she was changed or something. I mean she can't go to the beach now, not if it's sunny anyway. But she won't think about that all she thinks about is seeing all the stuff she thinks she is missing out on. In my head I see her trying to meet celebrities in LA, and other crazy stuff that we just can't do . . . I just know it's going to be hard for her." She rarely opens up like this, now I see why Nahuel thinks that she overheard way too much before she was born.

She has been alive for one year and two days, and has put more thought and worries into this trip than all of us combined. Nahuel thinks it's just part of who she is, he blames himself of course. He thinks it is because keep telling her when she was only a fetus that he would find a way to keep her and her mother safe. He also spent time telling her that she had to be careful to not hurt Renée, and when it came time for her birth not to move no matter what because she would really hurt her mom. Renée on the other hand was going on about how great her father was. Telling her about the wonderful adventures they could go on as a family. Then she overheard everything we said to prepare Renée for the worst, and all about the dangers of the world she was not even in yet.

"You're right that stuff will be hard for her, but we can get her through it together." She cuts me off, rolling her eyes.

"I know that, I just feel bad like I'm plotting against her but really, I just don't want to disappoint her. Now I have talked to you, Zora and Nate about it behind her back, when she finds out she's going to be so mad. But I think we need to plan where we are going to go so that we start with places that she is not as excited about so that she gets used to her limitations before we get to the things she really wants to see and do."

"She won't be mad you were just planning _your birthday trip_. I do agree with you on starting with stuff that won't tempt her into risking exposure." I said the first part sarcastically under her breath she mutters yeah my trip; it is so soft that I can hardly make it out.

"Ok so my siblings and I want _my _trip to start on the southeast coast of the states and work our way north for Christmas and New Year's in N.Y.C. I am hoping that she will like the idea of spending the holidays in New York enough not to make us start on the west coast."

"My God, you really have been plotting, _(snickers)_ don't stress, I like that plan. Now we just have to all sit and talk about it together."

"I know but when we do I think she is going to be mad, but I think the sooner we get it over with the better. That way she will get over before we run into the Amazons."

"Alright you evil genius let's get a move on, and try to have some faith in your mom, she won't get mad."

"You always tease me about thinking I know something, but I _know my Mom_ and she is going to be upset after we talk tonight." With that we are off running again.

Later that night Huilen and I sat just close enough to the sleeping hybrids that we hear their hearts. The evening had been a disaster; I started the conversation about the road trip and how we needed to plan where we going to start along with the different stop we all wanted to see along the way. Aurora quickly started telling us about how she and Bella were thinking about starting in Georgia and slowly heading north to New York Where we would spend the Holiday's. Renée quickly countered with starting in L.A. and we could fly to New York for Christmas if they really wanted. The two of them went back and forth a few times before, Nahuel made a statement about how we were supposed to drive everywhere. Bella said she thought Renée would like New York at Christmas time. Then Renée was snapping at all of them about it being a family trip and it was not up to them. Huilen tried to speak but could not get a word in edgewise. Bella finally said something about us not fighting that we should just vote about which side of the country to start with. Everyone voted to start on the east coast, except Renée and Huilen. Huilen voted last, I know she only voted for the west coast so that Renée would not be alone in her vote. Renée then stood and growled out that we were all ruining her trip, causing Aurora to jump up and reminded Renée that it was Bella's birthday gift from the family.

"Well, Bella is being a brat, talking with you two ahead of time and getting you all to side with her!"

Then she stormed off, Huilen caught up with her but came back quickly saying Renée would be back by sun up. Bella looked no more upset that she did this afternoon, but Huilen and Zora were both livid with Renée for calling Bella a brat. Bella was right, she knew her mother.

**_B – P.O.V._**

I was right Mom was mad, the road trip talk spun out of control almost right from the start. I was shocked at how she and Zora were so nasty to each other; I know that it is my fault for getting Zora excited to spend Christmas in N.Y.C. Now both Huilen and Zora are upset with mom. I told them that I was fine, which I am, and that we would make up tomorrow. I am heading off to sleep when Huilen gives me a big hug, muttering,

"She didn't mean it."

"I know it was said in the heat of the moment."

Mom and I will be fine, tomorrow by this time we will be back to normal. I am more worried about Zora and her, they have always been so close and enjoyed the same types of things, I am pretty sure this is their first argument. I know Mom will move on from it quickly but suspect it will take Zora some time.

When morning comes Mom is back, she is being reserved which is so odd for her. We map out where to meet up then Dermott questions me,

"Whom are you traveling with today?"

When mom did not jump in, I quickly replied. "I want to hear some more stories about your glory days in Volterra." I knew Mom wasn't ready to talk yet; it would do no good to push her.

With that we all ran or in my case rode, off in different directions. Dermott keeps a steady stream of stories going the entire day, he went into great detail about Aro, Caius and Marcus's personalities. Caius has been cruelest of the leaders, never showing mercy, always quick to sentence death for any and all infractions. Aro is more likely to grant a pardon of sorts if they were willing to serve in the guard he hates to destroy vampires with talents of any kind. Aro loves to entertain, telling stories about the things he has witnessed over the past almost thirty-five hundred years. Dermott tells me that it's a shame we keep hidden because Aro would keep telling stories for years on end if he could, he thinks we would get along great if I were not a hybrid. Aro has the power to read every thought you have had, with a single touch he knows all. Marcus has been a shell of his former self after the murder of his wife, now he is apathetic at best. Only responding with a single word or using Aro's power to show the bonds his power allows him to see. Her death changed everything for the Volturi; the wives are never let out of the castle and murder was the catalyst for the destruction of the Romains.

Then he moved on to the love that was once shared by Aro's sister Didyme and Marcus. It only lasted three hundred years and took place at least three thousand years ago but those who witnessed say the still to this day they have never witnessed a love as strong as what was shared between Marcus and Didyme. Didyme's power made everyone around her happy. She was killed and the Volturi believes the Romanian were to blame because they were worried about the large coven of then six, gaining any more strength. Everyone who knew Didyme was heartbroken by her death. When word got around that Romains killed her in hopes that it would prevent the Volturi from gaining more members. They found all the support they would need to take down the Romains, which they did nearly fifteen hundred years after her death.

That victory would not have been possible without the witch twins, Jane and Alec. Aro created them just a decade before the battle with the Romains. They are very young looking Aro says they are thirteen, but many think they could be as young as eleven, however no one would say such a thing because that would mean they were Immortal Children. Aro had watched them grow as part of a coven of witches, he wanted to turn them we the reached adulthood. However he had to step in to save them when they were sentenced to be burned at the stake.

They believe that Jane's powerful pain mind trick is the memory of her pain she felt while being burned alive and change into a Vampire at the same. Alec's power on the other hand made you feel absolute nothingness; all of your senses become deprived. The first time the twins used their powers was during the battle with Romains the Volturi were outnumbered and the odds were not in their favor, they say it was the stress that awoken the twins powers. The fight was over before in begun, and the Volturi remain the undisputed leaders of the vampire community.

I wanted to ask more about how the different powers worked but I held back, most of the all the powers he mentioned are what's considered mental powers and would not be able to harm me or my family if they were in the range of my shield. If I ever came in contact with them I would gain those powers as, I shuddered at the thought, I have enough worries without thinking of that. I am looking forward to seeing how Zafrina's power works.

"Not exactly a fairy tell but still the story has a hidden meaning Bella, first no one can stand angst Volturi. Second in times of great need your power will come to you." Great I really don't want him to ask about my shield, if they don't ask and I don' tell; then it's not a lie, at least that's what I keep telling myself.

"I don't want you to worry about your shield, it will come if you ever need it, and I don't think that you will lose control over it. If just popped up out of instinct alone we would have tricked you into using by now." He states confidently, I am so glad they never asked me to try to use it; they only tried tricking it into working.

"You're right, it's not instinct that makes it work, it's more than that." A very true statement not a lie in the least. After the first time I used it, my shield has been under my control, I knew what I was doing and what would happen the second time I pushed Nate away from my Mom and me.

"We are almost to the meeting spot, do you want to stay with me or do you think your Mom will be ready to talk yet?" My intuition tells me not to try yet.

"I think I will run with Nahuel for the afternoon, I will talk with her tonight that way if she gets upset I can go to camp and she can do what she needs to blow off steam. I hope that she apologizes to everyone, I feel really bad that I caused her to snap at everyone like that, but at the sometime this is why I wanted to do it now not when we got to the U.S. or when we pack up the house"

"Bella it's a very hard lesson for some like you to learn but you must try to understand that you are only responsible for your own action. How someone else reacts in never anyone's fault but their own."

"Yeah but if I put them in a situation where they react badly how can it not be my fault. I knew it was going to cause problems when we started to plan out the trip; I spoke with you and Nate about my concerns. With Zora I just said I thought it would be better if we started off in small towns, she assumed I was thinking of bloodlust but I did not correct her. When I asked for the vote I knew I had four for the east coast, I knew she would lose I did set her up."

"Yes you did know that we would win the vote, but you did not make any of us vote for the east coast. You simply voice your concerns and we made choices. Besides Zora will always pick N.Y., if you give her a choice, we have never lived there and she wants to so badly."

"I feel bad that I did not give her a chance to defend herself when I spoke with you guys. Maybe I should just tell her why I think we should start on the east coast." The only feeling that I have with that choice was indifference.

"Maybe, but she never even asked why last night, do you think she would be more upset that you talked about your concerns with us before her or would she be able to see that you were just trying to help."

"I'm not sure, but I do know that she planed this trip without talking to me about it first, I did not get a say at all. Then she said it was my present but I know it's just as much for her. I don't mind that we are doing it I just want us to be safe and happy. I'm having a hard time believing that we will be safe running around the country while everyone fights about where we go next." He said nothing for a little longer that I was comfortable with.

"Your right none of us would be safe or happy like that. I can see it being complete chaos if we don't plan it all out."

We stayed quiet until we got the meeting spot, I was stressed about the road trip but at least we seemed to be on the right track. I just wanted the whole thing planed then we could move on.

**A/N: Thanks for reading and please review, if you do I'll send you a hint!**

**Also send ideas for the road trip, fun stuff, silly stuff and crazy stuff like visiting an 80 statue of the Golly Green Giant.**

Also check out my profile for _charter index_ for this story and _a link to photos_!

**_*BIG thanks and hugs for snowgoose, be sure to check out her stories*_**


	12. Always, Always have a plan

**_I posted twice yesterday, be sure you have read both chapters!_**

**_Chapter 12: "Always, always have a plan" - Rick Riordan_**

**_N – P.O.V._**

Isa and I have spent our afternoon making travel plans. Ever since we told her about the road trip, she has become obsessed with having a plan. I understand her concerns, I really do, and I agree that our safety is of the utmost importance. However, I think she is taking this a bit too far. The power she picked up from Renée is driving her crazy now that we have decided to live a nomadic life for the next year. I tell her that she should try to find a way to shut it off, that she is pushing herself too hard and taking on too much responsibility. She countered with "what would I do, if I were in her shoes?" She's right I would do anything to keep us all safe, but now I am worried about how this is affecting her, mental safety is almost as important as physical safety. Right now in her mind she thinks she has the power to help us, which she does, but. . . _"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men"_ plans, no matter how well thought out can and do go wrong. What will happen to Isa when it goes badly and she thinks that she could have stopped it?

She also has a plan for seeing what her shield can do with Zafrina power. She thinks that she will gain Zairian's power as soon it is used in her presence. She wants to know if she covers me with her shield, will I still see what images are being broadcasted. Isa seems sure that she will not see what Zafrina show us. She wants to know if she can use her shield to stop me from seeing them as well. She has decided that she will squeeze my hand twice when she covers with the hard shield and three times when she changes it to the soft. I am responding, with one for yes and two for no just like when she was born, if I can still see the illusion. She wants to find alone time with Zafrina. She has a very good feeling about telling her about the shields and even her ability to pick up other powers.

I am not looking forward to our talk tonight. Isa says that Dermott wants us all to sit down and start working things out for the road trip. I am worried that it will turn into a screaming match between Renée and Zora. Zora is not used to someone getting overly emotional during a discussion, like Renée did last night. Renée is physically older than Zora, but when she reacts like last night, it becomes hard to tell who is more mature. I'm hoping that we can keep a cap on emotions and have a decent talk. Isa says it will be fine, her intuition at work, I am still somewhat skeptical it won't turn out just like last night.

We get to camp, Renée is the last to arrive, she seems subdued we are all somewhat quiet tonight. After Zora tells us about the giant black caiman she came across today. Dermott begins,

"After the way things went last night, I think we all need to talk about the trip."

"In a calm respectful manner." Huilen butts in sending both Renée and Zora a hard look.

"I'm sorry that I got so upset last night, I just really want to start with LA." Renée mumbled.

Dermott chuckled and said; "Last night we voted to start on the East coast and spend the holidays in New York. Why don't we figure out where to start so that we can make all that happen?"

Renée let out a half-huff, half growl and glares at the ground.

"Mom, why is so important for you to go to LA first?"

"I don't know Bella, it's just where I want to start from."

"OK – well what do you want to do while we are in LA?" That is the heart of Bella's concerns.

"Oh you guys will just love it, we can do the star walk, go to Grumman's Chinese theater, shop on Rodeo drive, the beaches and go on one of the tours where you can see the stars houses." She takes a breath and Isa cuts in.

"And you're OK with doing all that after sunsets? You don't mind that you can't try to meet the stars? Where are we going to stay in LA? What about hunting? LA is the second biggest Metropolitan Area in the U.S."

"Baby Bella, you worry so much. We'll figure it all out." Renée says in a placating tone. I can see how the name has made Isa temper rise.

"OK _mommy_, well tell me what you have planed."

"The whole point of this trip is to do some fun, fly by the seat of your pants, taking life as it comes. You're too serious Baby and that's why you need this trip. 'Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.' Lennon was right." Rene states like she has the answer to life in that one quote.

Huilen start's; "Renée" is all she gets out because Isa jumps to her feet walk over to her Mom hugs her and says,

"I love you, but we are not human. You are a vampire and I'm a hybrid, my life, all of our lives will be put at risk by not planning. You and I both still hunt a lot and around humans it will have to be even more. We need to be used to that before we are in a huge metro area with no easy way out. The closest Park we could hunt at is three hundred miles from LA. No one said we can't go to LA just not first. Mom, we are not ready." Isa says passionately.

"She is right Renée. We could even plan LA as our last hurrah before we head to Europe. Your control would be much better by then and we would be able to stay longer without having to hunt." Huilen says happily.

"Yeah, I guess." Renée mutters. Isa stays with her holding her hand.

The rest of the conversation goes off without a hitch or a word from Renée. We have planed to be in to U.S. by mid November and in New York by the twenty-third of December. We were making reservations in for a cabin about an hour outside of the city as well as a hotel in Manhattan. We would take our time traveling up the coast hitting all the southern states east of the Mississippi. Isa wanted to spend a few days in DC. Renée finally chimed in that she wanted to go to Nashville when were in Tennessee, that got her and Zora talking about the concerts they could see while in the area. After two hours, everyone seemed happy and back to normal. The next three nights pass in similar fashion.

We are all waiting for Zora at the designated spot and she's already twenty minutes late. Then we can hear her coming and she is not alone. Isa actually looks her physical age because she starts bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. I wonder whom Zora has brought with her, because only two sets of feet traveling towards us. Then at last they come into view. Kachiri is two steps behinds Zora. Isa moves towards them, Renée grabs her hand to stop her, Renée is perfectly still as she watches them approach.

We greet each other quietly in Kachiri's native tongue, before Dermott stands to the side ready to make an introduction.

"Kachiri, this is Isabella Marie and her mother Renée"

Isa smiles big, stepping forward to greet Kachiri, but Renée pulls her back again with a soft growl. Isa then hisses.

"Mother, stop it." While she tries to shake her mother's grip off her hand. Kachiri laughs, then in her soft voice says

"You are a young one aren't you, do you have so little faith that you believe your family would lead you and your daughter to the slaughter. Come now child, release your daughter so I may greet her." Renée looks to Dermott who smiles and nods. The second Isa is released she flashes in front of Kachiri, sticks out her hand to shake'.

"Hello Kachiri it's an honor to meet you, I'm Isabella." Isa looks so small, she stands just shy of three feet tall and Kachiri is more than twice her height, at six feet four inches. They are extreme opposites, Isa' so tinny, pale, thin with her hair in two pigtail braids and Kachiri towers over all of us, she is the darkest skinned vampire Dermott has ever seen, with wild black hair. Just looking at the two of them great each other makes me bust out laughing.

**_B – P.O.V._**

Kachiri took us to meet her coven mates, Zafrina and Senna. They are taller and stronger looking than an average woman in today's society. As soon as I greeted Zafrina with a handshake I had her power.

Her power was actually very similar to my own in how you broadcast the illusion. She could send to one or all, it's like a bubble in her mind that holds the illusion. She controls whom she puts in the bubble. It lets her show anything she wants not just memories, anything she can imagine can be shown and heard. The sense of touch and smell is all that remains unchanged by the illusion.

The Amazon Coven was an amazing sight; I could now see why Zora said they move in animalistic way. It is more than that though, they always look ready to spring into action. They move on the balls of their feet, their eyes always scanning, when they run together it looks like a well choreographed dance, they are in perfect rhythm and somehow it is nothing like a march.

They lead us to a small abandoned temple, they have protected since they found it over a thousand years ago. To say it was temple was an overstatement, it looked to me like the start of a temple or maybe an entrance to a place where a temple would be. It is just a stone floor with eight pillars and roof, I loved it, the space was about six hundred square feet. The Amazons told us that they later built the large stone trunk like structure in the center; it was where they stored things they could not keep on them.

We spent our afternoon and well into the evening getting to know one another. It was true that they had no idea how old they were and they do remember Mayan Civilization. They say the large temples were built shortly after they became vampires, I'm sure we have different versions of a short period of time. That makes them at least seventeen hundred years old, which I find amazing. Kachiri was changed first. When she gained control she returned to her village to change both Zafrina and Senna. The only rule they had for hunting was not to kill anyone from their village, later they changed to only feed the sickly. When the white man invaded they hunted them without regards to age, but still never killed for the sake of killing. They did tell some fun stories about scaring them away from the temple, and helping the descendants of their village fight the white men who tried to enslave them.

I was beginning to get sleepy, when Zora wanted Zafrina to show Renée and I her talent. I made sure to sit next to Nate all day waiting for this moment. Mom wanted her to show us a sunny beach and Zora wanted to stand in a clearing and have it rain flowers When Zafrina ask what I wanted to see I just shrugged. I really didn't think it would work on me so I hadn't come up with anything.

"Isa, you are not shy, why will you not tell me what you want to see?"

"I hadn't really given it any thought." It was an honest answer.

With the others pleading for me to pick something and tossing out suggestion, I went with a tropical island but told her I wanted a memory not imagination. I just as I suspected the others gasped while I was still looking at the three Amazon's. I did two fast squeezes to Nate and I cover Nate with the hard shield, two squeezes back, he can't see the illusion. I pull the shield away from him, then do three squeezes and cover him with the soft shield. His response is the same. Both of the shields block Zafrina power, this whole experiment took less than five-seconds.

I look up to see Zafrina is looking at me with an odd expression. I look around to the others and clearly they are under the illusion they all look dazed. I make eye contact with Zafrina and shrug my shoulder. Then shake my head no, she goes to speak and I mouth later to her then make the universal 'shh' sign. Her eyes go big, but she stays quiet. After she played out the three Illusions, I went to my hammock. I needed to get her alone so that we could talk.

In the morning I asked if we could play capture the flag. I told them we could have three teams; one vampire from the Amazons, one of our family and a hybrid to keep it fair. Then I immediately called Zafrina and Mom for my team and everyone chuckled! Nate teased me about how fast I was to call teams before they even said yes. I just glared at him while we discussed the rules with the Amazons and laid out the bounds of play. The Amazons found the concept of the game funny and asked why we played several times.

"Cause it's fun." Was Zora's response the first time they asked.

"It helps them train their vampire senses." Dermott tried when they asked a second time.

Mom was trying to explain when they asked the third time, I cut in with the truth.

"We all like to compete and it passes the time." With that, they slowly nodded in understanding.

When we slip into our teams, and ran out of hearing distance. I told Mom to be the seeker, the one who looks for the flag, Zafrina would be the defender, and I would hind the flag. Mom took off to trial the others.

"Follow me, but when get to the river I will split off. Then spread your scent around, then head down stream five hundred feet or so and I'll meet you there."

I was happy to get a chance to use my newest plan for hiding the flag. My family knew I always traveled in the trees, so I would go up and jump around from tree to tree, then drop into the river. I'll swim till I find a low branch then climb out of the river into the tree to hide the flag. Then jump back in the river, and swim away before I get out. They will have no trail to the tree with the flag. Now we just have to keep from getting tagged out, I could always use the soft shield for that; it would let me know if they were close before I could hear them.

I meet up with Zafrina in the river she was looking at me like I was crazy. So I told her how I hid the flag.

"I find it strange that you put so much thought into hiding something from your family."

"I just want to win! But if this works I am never telling where the flag is, or how I hide it. We switch the teams around when we play with just us."

"You are a competitive little thing." I just giggled, she was right I am the smallest but I was determined to win.

"So do you want to tell me about why you did not see my illusion or why you were not surprised by the fact that you did not see it?"

"Yes, I think you will be a great help in teaching me about my power. Let's find some place to talk."

Mostly, I spoke and she listened as I explained _everything_. I even told her that I had her power, and how similar it was to my own. I told her about Moms power, how it works and that mom seemed to ignore it or not know that she had it at all. Then I told her why I keep a secret from everyone in my family except for Nate. By the end I think that I ramble on for an hour straight.

"You are wise beyond your years little one."

"Year" I cut in, causing her to burst out laughing.

"So right, year it's hard to imagine the control you have gained in just a year. It took me a long time to control my power I used to daydream and sometime if I thought hard enough about the dream Kachiri and Senna would see them. It took me many years to do it like I do now. You say you have my power show me something."

"I'm not sure if it will work on you, because it's your power. I was wondering about that, anyway. . . What do you want to see?"

"Show me your shields and how the work, show me what you did with Nahuel when you covered him so he couldn't see."

I showed her what did yesterday with Nate. Then how it can push things when I use the hard one or let them in when soft. I showed how I send it out as far as I can to see where the others are when we hunt.

"Your right it is a lot like my gift in the way in moves. I must say I was an odd feeling to have you send me an illusion." She tilted her head looking at me, a look of concentration on her beautiful face. "You can see your shield in your mind. It's not really a bubble when you send it out it ties back to you by that thin thread. Now I want you to try to see it in your mind, not how you use it but how it covers you even when your not trying, then try to lift it up so you could let my illusion in."

So that was what we did until it was time to head back to the temple, she projected the tropical island and I would pull up on my shield trying to let it in. I caught a few glimpses, but it always shocked me, then I couldn't keep it up and the shield snapped back into place. Zafrina explained that powers were like human muscles. The more we work the stronger they become and that I should keep working on lifting the shield because it would make me stronger in my mind, thus make the power stronger. So that was my plan, work my shields like a muscle and make them strong. She also wants to try to have us both project an illusion towards Nahuel and see who's he would see, or if it would be some strange mix. When I asked her why she made her voice sound kinda like Zora's; she smiled and said mockingly.

"Cause it's fun."

A/N: Please send reviews; if you do I'll give you a hint about what happens next!

**Did Peter have a power in SM's saga? Or have I been reading too much FF? Please let me know**

**I am also creating a new charter its a male, but that's really all I have so far, if you have any ideas for him let me know!**

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta and getting chapters back fast even while working on her own stories, be sure to look her up. *

"_The best laid schemes o' mice an' men"-From Robert Burns' poem To a Mouse, 1786._

_12/6/12_


	13. Faux pas

**-Did Peter have a power in SM's saga? Or have I been reading too much FF? Please let me know!**

**-I am also creating a new charter it's a male, but that's really all I have so far, if you have any ideas for him let me know!**

**_Chapter 13 – Faux pas_**

**_N – P.O.V._**

After I was tagged out from capture the flag, Isa and Zafrina purposefully got tagged out. We were back at the temple, when Isa told me how she and Zafrina had been working on her shields. Isa used Zafrina's power to show her how it worked, then Zafrina came up with exercises to strengthen the mental muscles that held the shield. Zafrina was convinced that if Isa worked hard the shield would grow strong enough to crush a vampire. They had already crushed large rocks with it, Isa lifted Zafrina a few feet off the ground and had Isa wrap herself in the hard shield then hit Zafrina with the strength of the shield and not her own force. Now they wanted to see what would happen when they each tried to put a different illusion in my head and if could see illusions from Zafrina when the shield covered her.

"OK we are each going to put you into an illusion. When we let you out tell us what you saw." Zafrina was more excited than Isa.

_I am on the same beach that Zafrina showed, our first night here. Then a storm comes in the lighting is purple and it starts to rain down white hibiscus flower._

They let me out and I tell them what I saw. Zafrina is disappointed that the two illusions merged together, she though hers would be stronger and block out Isa'. Isa is now covering Zafrina with her shield to see if her power can be used from within the shield. I can still see the illusion with her under Isa shield. Zafrina says that it feels different when she is projecting from under it, almost as if it were easier. We continue to talk about the different things Isa should do to strengthen her power. Isa then asks if we have any ideas how she could turn off her mother's power, she hates it because that it's on all the time. Isa' and Zafrina's powers both need to be told to go into action, while Renée's is constant.

"Isa you should show Nate what your shield looks like. Show him the same thing you showed me plus the new experiments. It will help him to understand."

Isa did as Zafrina asked; it was interesting to see how it worked. It was already very easy to control. The only thing Isa had any trouble with was pulling it up so that she could let Zafrina show her an illusion. Everything else that they tried together was easy. I now see why Zafrina thinks she could crush a vampire with it. When she let me out, the answer to turning off Renee's power seemed obvious.

"OK, you always say you have two shields the hard one and the soft. I think you have three, the one that is up all the time that you have to pull up to see Zafrina's illusion, is the third. Use that one to cover to spot in your head that holds your Mom's power."

Isa nodded then made no other movements for ten minutes while absorbed in trying out my suggestion.

"I can't get it, that is the only part of my power that is hard to control," Isa says with a huff, clearly frustrated.

"Ah - ah, don't let it get to you. Keep working at it remember how hard it is to lift up, it's going to take time." Zafrina scolds' her gently. Isa huffs and from the look on her face we can tell she got back to work. Twenty minutes later she has a huge smile on her face.

"OK-OK I think I got it. Nate, make a choice that would end very badly."

"Umm, I was thinking that I would just go turn myself in to the Volturi."

Isa lets out a little snort "Well I felt nothing, but I think it should be something you may actually consider doing." If I could work it out I would. . .

"I am going to free Jennifer and Maysun." Isa looks sad at the statement.

"Well, Mom's gift is blocked and when the time is right we will help them."

To get our minds off the thoughts of our other sisters, I ask more questions about what other things they think Isa could do with her shield. We go back and forth about it for a while, before Isa says,

"I would like to experiment with how big of the area I can cover. Like have you run out a mile then stop, then run out another mile and so on. We could keep trying until you are out of my range. I would just like to know for sure how far away I can cover you." I chuckle at her.

"You and your experiment you're becoming more like Daddy everyday!" I say as a joke, but when the words leave my mouth I know I hurt her feeling. The silence is stiff Isa is holding her breath for thirty-seconds, then she lets out a hiss.

"I'll be back, I'm going hunting." She stands and flashes away. I move to go after her, but Zafrina grabs my arm.

"Let her be, but know that the whole time I worked with her the only thing she kept saying was how she needed to keep you all safe. That's why she tries so hard and you know that. She may speak like an adult, be as smart as one, but try to keep in mind she has only been around for a year. I won't call her a child, she may look like a four-year old, but I'm sure she has ever acted like one. She lacks experience, she is like my sisters and in that way we only know our world. She only knows what she has read or heard and has little real life experiences to compare with that information. As brave and smart as she is, one thing over powers all that and its fear. She is truly afraid of your father finding out about her or that Volturi you all speak about."

"I know, it was just a joke and it was in very poor taste, but I meant no harm." That was the most I have ever heard Zafrina speak, unless she was telling a story about her past. We sit in silence waiting for Isa and the others to return.

Later that night, I pull Isa aside to apologize, but she speaks before I can start.

"I know it was meant as a joke and you don't think I am anything like _him_. But you would have reacted the same way. I am doing the same thing you did in a way, trying to get all the facts so that I can keep us safe. You did the same thing by asking Maysun everything you could about _his_ research just so you could save Zora and I. How would you have liked it if they jokingly said you were like _him_ at that point."

"I know, you're absolutely right, I am very sorry I said it. I love you and I never meant to hurt you." Sadly because this has been eating at me all afternoon.

"I love you too and you're still the best brother on the plant, human, vampire or otherwise."

The following day our group at the temple had grown to include both Zora and Renée. We all hung out together passing the time. Zora had Zafrina mix up some of the war paint they use. It is semi permanent, on vampire skin it lasted about two weeks; Zora was hoping to get a month on her skin. She had Renée painting flowers and vines that started on her feet and travel up to her calf. While Isa was listening to Zafrina tell legends of the area. As always Isa had questions,

"Are any of them true? I mean we can't be the only supernatural things in the world? You have been around for a long time, what else is out there?" she blushed when she realized what she said about being around for a long time.

"I didn't mean it . ." Zafrina cut in,

"Come now, I'm immortal, it's an accomplishment to get as old as we are" Zafrina said, wave Isa off." and of course we are not the only supernatural's we have come across in our time."

"What else is out there?" Renée piped in her interest piqued.

"Well, as you all could guess the legend of 'dark angles' is about my sisters and I. You all know the one that refers to Joham. The legends of the skin-walker or Nagual are true. We have met several over the years, which shift into Jaguars. We believe in legend of Blue Crow who would protect the pure of heart in the battles in the south, we have never seen one but we do however have a five foot blue feather in our chest. The bird was probably just a skin walker. Long before the white man came there were many power sorceries', but they seemed to die out."

"So what you're saying all of your legends are based in reality," Isa says excitedly.

"Well yes, our reality, but not human reality. The same way we stay hidden from the human so do the Nagual and if there is anyone practicing magic left they are hidden as well. It's not something you can look up in one of your books, the stories get changed some by each generation, making it hard to know what is fact and what is fiction." Zafrina answers.

"The Nagual are still around South America?"

"Yes."

"Can we find them?"

"I can help you find them, but they don't typically like our kind. We made agreement very long time ago; we help to keep other vampires off our land and continue to feed off the very old or sick. They don't bother us and we don't bother them, when a new one changes they come and find us to get our scent, that hasn't happened in many years."

"So you'll help me find them. Are they immortal like us and how big are they? That blue crow feather is five feet, are they huge Jaguars?" Isa rattles off the questions excitedly.

"Baby Bella, I don't think that's such a good idea. They could be dangerous." Renée cuts in. Isa rolls her eyes at the name.

"Please Mom, we'll be safe Zafrina would not have suggested it if it wasn't." Now Renée is rolling her eyes

"We just got here baby, now you want to send us all back to run off and look for some giant cats. We still have to start working on introducing you and me into the towns so we can get ready for the U.S. We will need everyone's help for that."

"What are you talking about Renée?" Zora asks looking confused.

"Oh well I just figured that while we had an extra three vampires it would be a good chance to go into a town. That way they could help hold us back if need be." Zafrina snorts and shakes her head.

"Renée we don't interact with humans and we won't be taking you into a town. Don't cause problems in our territory, we have never exposed ourselves and would like to keep it that way." Then Zafrina stood and left, Renée looked a little embarrassed at begin chastised.

"What it's not like it would be a big deal for them to help me out."

"Renée you did not ask them for help. You just assumed that they would want to help you. The only time they go near humans is to feed why would they want to spend time near them just so you can get use to it?" I asked her

"I just didn't think it would be a big deal, sorry!" she huffed, "and Baby Bella I don't want you running off looking for some giant cats."

"Mom, they are not _giant cats_, stop saying it like that, I was thinking that we should meet them because we are here on their land, not just because it would be cool."

"OK baby, we'll see." Renée said in a patronizing tone, it was just like my faux pas yesterday. Everyone froze except Renée, Isa stop breathing and this time she turned bright red.

"Mother, PLEASE stop calling me Baby Bella or Baby and please stop talking to me like I am an idiot!" Isa growled out then she was gone as well.

"Why is she being so dramatic? I don't talk down to her. Everyone is in such a bad mood lately." Renée says under her breath.

"Truthfully, we both call her that all the time and I know she hates it but it's a habit. You don't do it on purpose but you do treat her like she is an average four-year old, sometimes." Zora stated diplomatically.

"I do not, I know she is not a normal kid and I don't treat her like one. The Baby, thing is just . . . Well she is my baby." Renée defensively.

"I am not criticizing you Renée, I do it too. Like when we had the Disney marathon, that's not really her thing but we want her to like it. She did, but . . . "

"She did like them, then she went and read all the old fairy tales she could find after that. She just didn't know she would like it."

"Have you read the old fairy tales they are nothing like the Disney versions, they're dark and twisted?" Zora say with a laugh.

"Whatever, my point is she didn't need to get so upset." Renée states offhandedly.

"Bella was just upset because you end the conversation about the Nagual without even talking about, you blew her off," Zora says with a shrug.

Then they fall into the silence. Renée goes back to painting on Zora's calf with flowers.

Later, Huilen and Dermott return, both had been tagged out the only two left in the game were Kachiri and Senna. None of the flags have been recovered yet, so the game was still on. They had each found their teammate to let them know they were the last in the game and could call it a tie if they wanted but they were both too competitive to quit. So it seems that they liked playing the game after all. Dermott asked where Bella and Zafrina were, Renée the explained the events of the afternoon. Dermott told Renée gently, that it was not the Amazons responsibility to help her get use to the human scent and that they would be very uncomfortable around humans. He left the Isa stuff alone.

Isa returned late that night and acted like nothing happened. She involved Dermott in conversations about what other supernatural's were out there. Zafrina did not come back before I went to sleep.

**_B – P.O.V._**

Morning comes with no sign of any of the Amazons. Senna and Kachiri have given in to their competitive nature and are refusing to give until one of them wins the game. I'm worried that Zafrina is still mad that my mother unknowingly offended her. I hope she understands that it's just the way my mom is, she always speaks without thinking. I wouldn't go as far as to call her selfish but she is somewhat self-centered and not very considerate of others feeling.

The adults, are going to work with Renée today, they are going to get close to a town but not go in. They plan on sitting hidden in a spot down wind so that she can smell the humans in the distance. I'm happy to say I did not undo the hold I have on mom's power to see if was going to work out or not. In my heart I know it will work out, she wants this to bad to let it go wrong, plus she will have both Dermott and Huilen with her.

So, it was brother and sisters bonding day. Zora prattled on about the things we should see on our road trip. Nate would interject with fun things to hunt in each area we would go. I told them how I was excited to see snow, and the different seasons. Between the three of us we came up with a lot of stuff that we thought everyone would want to see.

Zora was painting a small Raven on my arch of my foot, with the left over war paint. Ranting about how she wished she could get a tattoo.

"It would be so cool, I would get something totally original and meaningful."

"Like what?"

"I don't know it's not like it would work anyway, my skin would break the needle and even if I could break the skin the ink would never stay, our venom would dissolve it."

"True but you could always ask the Amazons about their marks, they have symbols scared into their skin. If you really want you could do something like that. Oh, now do the outside of my foot, from the ball of my foot to my heel put _'Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom' -Aristotle_ "

"You're so serious, don't you want a nice flower or something?" She was giggling and doing what I asked for as she said it.

"Just be glad my feet are small, otherwise it would have you put something longer and much more serious. I'm doing one on you next; I got the perfect one _"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself." Coco Chanel_ you just have to pick a spot."

I did hers next, then I let her add a flower to the back of my neck. Zora decides that she needed to get the recipe for the war paint before we leave and that one-day she would find a way to make vampire tattoos. That just made both Nate and I laugh.

"You would have to get some so personal and close to your heart, because you would have forever. Thousands of years, if you live that long," said Nate. I was trying to think of something worth marking my body with permanently.

"If we had a family crest, I would do that or how in the medieval times each family had a slogan, about who they were sorta."

"Yeah, but we don't have that and we don't even all use the same surnames. It's not like we want to track down Joham blood lines to find out his side," Zora said.

"I get that believe me but what I really was thinking was more along the lines of a family crest. We could totally make one. What is your last name any way, you have always just been Aurora Grace and Nahuel?"

"Well, I use my mothers last name when I play human and need ID's but I don't really consider that part of my name. Aurora Grace Evans. It sounds weird to me."

"I change mine all the time, but I have been using Evans with Zora lately. We just pick something common, to put on paper work. Dermott is the only one who sticks with names in his family tree," Nate chimed in.

"Yeah, I can see him like being like that. I wonder what name Mom will pick. I know she hates Higginbotom. But I have no. . " I hear something approaching fast, it's really four something's. I wrap the hard shield around us all.

**_A/N: Thanks for reading and please review! All reviews will get a hint about the next chapter._**

**_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_**

**_The Mission_**_ Author:KelsismomNewborn Bella is given an impossible mission. Capturing the Cullens' clairvoyant will not only keep her alive, but help her prove her worth to her leaders. But what she didn't count on was falling for the coven's mindreader. A/U ExB Rated:Fiction T_

_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_

_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._


	14. my very bad, no good day, no week

**_Chapter 14 – My very bad, no good day, no week_**

**_B-P.O.V_**

"It's just us, we brought a surprise guest," Kachiri yells out.

Then they move in to view with a Jaguar the size of a horse walking along side of them. It is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. It is at least five and half feet tall at the shoulders, its tail is six feet long, and it must weigh a thousand pounds.

"Isa, Nahuel and Aurora meet Hector." Zafrina introduced us. I approached slowly, the large cat laid down, he was huge and no less imposing when it flattened itself on the floor.

"Hello it's a pleasure to meet you." He nodded his large head, it was odd to see an animal respond to words, but the intelligence in his eyes made it clear he was no animal. I walked around him just taking in the sight of him in total awe. I heard the Amazons giggling at me. I looked up at them and the others, noticing Zora looked almost fearful, Nate looked curious but had not moved as close as I had. I looked back at Hector who was watching me, blushing I said to him

"Sorry, I did not mean to be rude." That made the Amazons burst out laughing, Zafrina tossed a pair of short in his direction. He leaped up and caught them in his mouth, moving easily as fast as a vampire.

"Go change, so we can all talk." With that Hector ran into the trees and then ducked behind one. Then he reappeared as human only seconds later. He was still huge standing at six and a half feet or so, and almost three feet wide.

We spent the afternoon talking, Hector was two hundred and twenty-three years old. He had grown up in the mountains of Chile; he started turning into the Jaguar when he was fourteen and has been ever since. He started to turn because Yaco had found his mate. Yaco came to Hector and told him the history of their people after his first change.

According to the history of Nagual, this land would always have at least three Jaguars at a time and they were the protectors of the land. They were ageless, never aging past twenty as long as they changed into the Jaguar. They don't get sickness of any kind and if they become injured they heal extremely fast. Although, Hector has never been hurt nor have any of the others in his group.

The two other current Nagual are Manuel and Jorge. Jorge is the youngest of the three and is just forty-two years old. Manuel is close to one thousand years old and is what humans call a black panther. On close inspection you can see that he has black spots on a very dark brown coat. Manuel recently found his mate they are waiting for the new Nagual to change, so that Manuel can grow old with her. They only stop skin-walking when they found their mate, like vampire love it was a very strong almost instant connection.

"So in theory we hunt down anything that threatens the lives of our people and we protect our lands. It used to be things like witches, real Werecats, werewolves, vampires and other 'mythical' creatures. It has gotten harder to protect our people because they are their own worst enemies. How do we protect the from themselves, and we sit back watching them destroy the lands?" Hector sounded so sad, when he thought about this.

"So let me get this straight, what is a 'real Werecats'? I mean it seems like you guys are what that folklore is based on," Zora asks him.

"Oh no the Amazons were right when they told you that we are Nagual or skin-walker's. Werecats and werewolves are very different from us, we have a normal thought process even in our Jaguar forms. We can change whenever we want as well. Were-beast, make no choice to change its moon cycles that force them, and when they change they are no longer the same person. They can't tell right from wrong they would kill anything they get the hands on. They often move on to the next person before the previous one is dead making more were-beast in the process. It makes them more of a threat to humans than even Vampires. At least you all don't run around half killing and more making vampires in the process. The numbers of were-beast grow very rapidly, with each moon cycle one were-beast will make four or five new ones."

"You said they aren't around anymore how do you know so much about them?" Nate asked somewhat suspiciously.

"That's easy, I guess I left out they the Nagual are telepathic with each other within our Jaguar forms. So when the older is replaced by the younger, then they share the important history of our kind. That's as been happening for thousands years, so I many not have had to kill anything in my lifetime but have seen it from the eyes of the elders." Hector answers.

"Wow, that's crazy you have hundreds of battles and stories in your mind that you got to see first hand like you were there. That is an amazing gift."

"Yeah in a way, but it is intrusive at times. The three of us share thought when in Jaguar from, it's a constant stream from each others mind no matter what we are thinking about. It gets old believe me."

Nate and Hector spent another hour going over our family history, how hybrids happened, and had how they became "vegetarian vampires". Hector got a kick out of that statement and said that he would email Nate if he ever suspected that he found a woman pregnant with a hybrid, even though it seemed highly unlikely. He bade us good-bye with a promise to stop by the tree house with the others before we left for the states to meet the rest of our family.

**_R- P.O.V._**

We are running back to the temple, I mentally snort that's no temple it doesn't even have walls. Today was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Dermott and Huilen had both warned me but I didn't think it would like that. The burn from being able to smell the humans even at that distance was madding, but I was able to keep myself from going after them tough. I just focused on the fact that I wanted to take part in that world and not be stuck on the outside looking in or worse yet, stuck living the rainforest for eternity. Dermott was happy that I was able to hold myself back without their help. Huilen told me it would be easier with time and I would get use to the burn.

I don't know what I was thinking this trip would be like but I didn't see just sitting in the woods for a month. Without electricity for TV or Internet I have nothing to keep my mind busy, I keep thinking about the road trip but that leads too me getting irritated again, so I try to steer clear of that as much as I can. It seems that everyone's on edge out here for some reason and I have no clue why. Maybe it's because the Amazons are so intimidating. Zora did not exaggerate when she said my first response would be to fear them, but overall they seem nice enough. But I can't see living the way they do, with nothing to do.

At least I sort of understand why Zafrina had snapped at me yesterday when I wanted them to come with us to hold me back if need be. I was uncomfortable the whole time we were there; Huilen says it would have been worse if I had ever tasted human blood. I still don't see why Zafrina could not have just told me why without getting mad about it.

Then _Bella _I don't know what's going on with her lately. She's been acting strangely, she was very quiet most of the way here. Which was shocking considering how happy she was to be meeting the Amazons finally. Then getting all huffy because I call her "Baby Bella" and trying to tell me that I talk down to her. She was also worked up about the road trip_._

We all were bickering about the road trip. I don't think I have ever seen Zora that mad and then when she pointed out that it was Bella's trip, I just lost it. I did not mean to call Bella a brat but for her to have started planning it without me but hurt my feelings.

Then the next night when she pointed out all the stuff that I couldn't do, it depressed me. I guess I do keep forgetting because we haven't had to worry about it, but it's not like I would just walk out in the sun or anything. I wanted our trip to be more about going where the wind blows but now we have started planning it all out, I can see why we have to plan but it's sucking the fun right out of it for me.

At least I am one step closer to getting back into society, with my small but painful victory today. When we get back everyone is sitting around talking about those cat things again, I just tune them out. I'm not running around looking for them, I don't care what anyone wants I have to work on my control. Then I notice Bella's got war paint on her feet. Ugh, who did that for her, its going to be there for a month and she didn't ask if it was OK.

"Bella, what's on your feet?"

"Oh, just a quote and a raven – I have a hibiscus on my neck too." She turns and lifts her hair up for me to see it, well at least it's cute.

"Why did you do that? It takes a month for it to come off. Just because I did Zora's didn't mean you could do it too!" I can't believe she didn't ask.

"Sorry, I didn't think it was a big deal. It comes off and they are all small. If I have my hair down and shoes on you wouldn't even see them. Not that we are even around anyone, I mean Hector saw but he liked it."

"It's not about that. It's the fact that you didn't ASK! Whoa who the hell is Hector?" She rolls her eyes at me making me even madder.

"Weren't you listening to what I was telling you guys about the Nagual? I just told the whole story to you guys. We met Hector today it was amazing. You'll get to meet him when we pack up the tree house before we leave for the U.S. . ." She rambles on.

"Bella I told I did want to go looking for them yesterday. You can't just do whatever you want. I said NO and WHEN I SAY NO I MEAN NO! You can't go behind my back and do what you want because. ." Bella's looking at me wide-eyed.

"Excuse me Renée, she did not go looking for them." Zafrina cut off my rant. I turn to look at her and flinch a bit, at her darkening eyes.

"Well, then how the hell did she meet this _Hector thing?"_

"I brought him here to meet her and the others." Zafrina states flatly.

"What gives you the right to go against what I tell my daughter she can and can't do? I did not want her around those _things_ then you bring them her to her without asking?"

"Mom, they aren't things. ." Zafrina lets out a hiss that stops Bella and makes me spin back in her direction.

"Do not chastise me, young one. You never said you did not want her to meet them. Just that YOU did not at to go look for them and that YOU had better things to do. YOU need to learn that not everything is about YOU!"

"SHE IS MY KID and I GET TO SAY WHAT SHE CAN and CAN'T DO, NOT YOU. SHE KNEW I DID NOT WANT HER AROUND THEM! SHE'S NOT OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE THOSE CHOICES!" I yell right back at her.

"Mom!"

"NO Bella, _SHE doesn't" _but then I was cut off by Dermott's very loud growl right next to me, he put a hand on my shoulder and made me turn to look at him.

"RENEE, GO TAKE A RUN, but be back in an hour so we can talk about this," then softly he added. " Go, before you say anything else you'll regret."

So I left, my thoughts moving as fast as my feet. _Who did she think she was telling my kid what she could do? Bella was standing up for her. Why are they making a big deal about this? Why did Bella think it was fine to do whatever she wanted? I mean it not like she I ever tell her no, and then when I do she just went and did what she wanted anyway. It's just like the road trip, her not thinking about what I want. Then everyone stands up for her like I did something wrong by being mad that she did not listen to me. Huilen tells me all the time to try to treat her more like an adult but how can I if she can't do as I say. Maybe she is just acting out, I don't think I like the influence the Amazons have on her. Well, really it's just really just Zafrina, of course she's Bella's favorite. Then again the others don't talk much._

My hour was up much too fast, I had barely calmed down but I'll hold my tongue the best that I can. When I get back the Amazons are not present, good because I really did not want to hear any more from Zafrina. I hate when she calls me young one or child, like I'm just a kid.

"Renée, I asked the sisters to give us some privacy to talk but you really need to apologize when they get back." Huilen says softly, why is this all on me?

"Why should I apologize? She is the one who overstepped me and let Bella do something that I said no too."

Dermott's eyes harden then, he replies; "Even if you don't feel like it, this is a home, their home and we are here as guests here. You were very rude to everyone tonight. If at the end of our talk you still feel the same way, you will at least apologize for yelling." I say nothing because the only thing that comes to mind is 'whatever'. "Now without yelling lets talk about this as a family," Dermott sates firmly.

"I don't see how this affects all of us it should be a conversation between _Bella and me." _I state, it's true this is about how she didn't listen and does whatever she wants.

"OK Mom, if you say so. They will stay here but keep out of it, how is that?" I guess that's better than nothing.

"Fine!" I hiss.

"OK, why are you mad at me?"

"Because you went against what I said."

"How did I do that?" Bella cocks her head to the side like she is trying to think.

"You got Zafrina to bring you that _thing_ so you could meet it and you did it behind my back."

"_Hector_ is not a thing and I did not ask for Zafrina to bring him here. Also you never said I could not meet them, only that you did not want to go running off to look for some giant cats." She sates.

"But you just had to get your way didn't you. I said no, and somehow you still got what you wanted."

"I don't understand what the big deal is, I didn't do anything. You all left to go sit near the humans. We were hanging around talking about the trip to the U.S., Zora asked if she could paint on me"

"So it was Zora's idea to use paint on you? You didn't ask me if that was OK, you just did it!" I cut her off mid story.

"I'm still confused Mom, why are you upset about the war paint? You seemed to like when you painted Zora yesterday."

"Yeah, it's fine for her and I wouldn't have minded if you asked if you could do it. But you didn't, you just did what you wanted, just like with the cats."

"Mom, I am not saying this to provoke you, just think for a minute before you answer OK" I give her a curt nod, "Name one time I asked you if I could do anything." It took a few second but she did ask me once.

"You asked if you could use my big sketch book, when you were working on the silly family tree stuff." I grin at her, but she rolls her eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me it's rude!" I huff

"Then treat me with the same respect, you roll your eyes at everyone and just because you don't care about something doesn't make it silly." She barked back at me.

"You're kidding me, right? Why are you acting like this?"

"I am not acting like anything, Mom. OK - I have been alive one year and asked permission to do something one time. Even then, I was asking you if I could use something that belonged to you. What about when I want to go hunting? Or down to the waterfall, or if I want to go pick some fruit, or go to bed? Do I ask about that?"

"No but . . " I start but she stops me

"So, when you left today, who did you ask to watch me? You know to make sure I was safe and would follow the rules? While we are at it, what are the rules?"

"No one but. . ." I can see her point now she really never asked if she could anything. She just told us what she was going to do all the time, and sometimes I would tell her that I wanted to do something else, so then that's what we would do.

"But what Mom, we can't have it both ways. I am not really a kid, I don't act like one and mostly you don't treat me like one. Only when it works for you, like when you want to play dress up or watch movies or something else you think is fun for someone who looks my age. Most of the time I go along with it and sometimes it's even fun. But for you to come back today and yell at me about something that you think I did, which I didn't, but even if I had you never said you did not want me around the Nagual. I just to understand why you are mad at me."

"Fine, I have no right being mad at you about the war paint or meeting that _thing._ But I wish you would check with me before you do things like that. I know I wasn't here for you to check with but, I don't know Baby you're my daughter I'm supposed to make sure you do the right thing and . . . I guess I don't really act like your mom huh," I trail off sadly. Feeling tears that won't ever fall flood my eyes.

"It's not like that at all Mom, your great and you always try to get me to have more fun. But we aren't human our relationship won't be like the one between your mom and you. It can't be, you're a vampire, a newborn vampire at that, and I am just as smart as you. It's not your version of normal." She's right but that doesn't make it hurt any less.

"Yeah I guess. I just wish . . . I don't know. I just know that I love you. I am sorry I yelled at you and try to let me know before you do things so that I can say no if I need to."

"I love you, too. But when I come to you try not to blow me off. Even if it's something that doesn't interest you, between that and the 'Baby Bella' I thought my head was going to pop off yesterday."

"Yeah that's how I felt, when I was pissed too. I'll try Bella, really I will."

Then it turned into family talk, Dermott basically told me that if I did not apologize to the Amazons we would go back to the tree house, to further drive his point home he said that it I couldn't get my emotions under control we would have to delay our trip because of me. He told me that I was being self-centered and impulsive. He had been letting my behavior slide because he thought it was because I was a newborn. I still felt like everyone was picking on me, when I told him that he laughed at me and then told me to grow up. Then the kids and Dermott left to find the Amazons to let them know the coast was clear. I should really stop thinking of them as kids.

Huilen stayed very quiet for a while, and then offered to go hunting with me. When we were away from the group she told me that although I might not like what people told me today, be honest with myself and see if I could see it from their side. I guess I could. I never had to worry about anything, not even Bella, everyone took care of each other in our family, but I never really took care of anyone but myself. When I told Huilen this she said it was part of being a newborn but I need to make an effort not to act that way anymore. That I have to try harder to think about how my actions affect everyone involved, slow down and think stuff through. That was her big advice; slow down and think.

Then we talked about Bella, Huilen say that she is more mature than the others were at her age. She and the others think it's because she heard so much before she was born. So while she does have fun, she's not a carefree person like myself. That she is very worried about how we will handle being in the human world and thinking about the other vampires we could run into. She is also scared that Joham will come after her because of her power. When I asked how she knew all this she told me,

"Dermott's been worried about her, he said that while you have been coming out of your newborn year and becoming less stressed, Bella keeps finding new things to worry about and gets more stressed out all the time. So the other day before the fight about the road trip he got her to talk about some and told her that she needed to let us all help her because she couldn't do it on her own."

"Why didn't she talk to me?"

"She only spoke with Dermott because he pushed her about it and wanted to know what was bothering her. Don't be upset, she did not seek him out."

"She didn't seek me out either and I knew something was bothering her."

"Well, why didn't you ask her? This is the kind of thing that needs to stop, your feeling upset because she didn't talk to you but you never asked. If you had she may have talked to you, but you didn't. Which is probably for the best considering how you reacted when we talked to you about the road trip." I thought about what she said, it's true I didn't ask and I don't even know why I didn't.

"She should want to talk about stuff like that with me."

"You're doing it again, this is not about you. When was the last time you asked Bella what she was doing or how she felt about something?"

I butt in, "So the jest of what everyone said today is that I am a bad mother and self-centered."

"Take it however you want Renée, but you really need to listen to yourself. We were talking about Bella, but you keep saying '_I, me and you'_ what about Bella?" Then she turned and walked off.

**_AN: Thanks for reading and please review – How much more can they take from Renée?_**

**_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_**

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	15. I'll be fine

**_Chapter 15 - I'll be fine!_**

**_B – P.O.V._**

The weeks after mom's blowup passed quickly and quietly. I could see she tried being more considerate towards everyone and even cut back on the Baby stuff, but she was pulling away from us. Every morning she asked what my plans were for the day before she left, it was a nice change. She never told me I couldn't do anything, but she did warn me to be careful when I told her the Amazons we going to teach me to fight.

That was an incredible day; Zafrina and I planned it so that I would only spar with her. I used my shield whenever I made contact and it packed a hell of a punch. Learning to fight was more like learning to dance, the way Zafrina taught me. She said stay moving even if it was just flexing my feet. She showed me how to use my small size as an advantage, escaping her attacks and holds. She taught me to stay defensive saying that it was always best to allow your opponents to make the first few moves so that you have an idea of what weakness they have. If had my shield around me no one could hurt me, but if I wanted it to stay a secret I couldn't use it to hold someone back. I would have to fight back so that nobody would be the wiser. Zafrina bit my hand when no one was looking just to see if she could it her teeth did not come through the shield, but still I was scared for a split second.

The others just assumed Zafrina was holding back on me, so then Zora wanted to spar with me. I still kept my shield around me, but didn't use any extra force when I hit her. Two minutes' in I had my teeth at her neck; she couldn't believe I got her and begged Zafrina for lessons. They were still at in when the others came back in the afternoon. My mom even had a few lessons with Kachiri.

We also learned how to make war paint, and found other flowers and berries to mix in to make other colors. Zora even asked about the glyph scares, originally they had war paint in them and the color lasted many years. They cut the skin with a tooth they removed from a vampire before he was burned. Because of our horrified faces, Senna said that we could easily ask Hector for a claw and that would work just as well. They had to cut very deep into the skin and had one of the other rubs the paint right behind the cuts. I was sure to tell Zora she was not practicing on me, causing everyone to burst out laughing. But Mom agreed with me at least.

We had odder new fake IDs for mom and me. I made the trip to Rio de Janeiro with the rest of our family. Mom was of course ecstatic being in the city with all the hustle and bustle. I found it noisy, dirty and hated acting human. Other children my age were idiots, apparently.

That caused statement got me in a little hot water, because I said it while we were still in the city and several people turned to look at me when I said it. On the run back Zora and Huilen told me it was best to act shy, and speak as little as possible. If I want to speak with them I just had to duck my head down and speak softly so the humans wouldn't hear. Mom told me I should be thankful I am growing fast and that by the time I was four I would be able to mostly act how it wanted.

I had no more thirst around humans than animals so I did not have to worry about that, but playing human at this age is going to be a stretch for me.

Our IDs were going to be ready in three-days then we were going back to the tree house to pack it up so we could head to the US. I had been looking forward to the road trip ever since, we settled on having a plan. I got good vibes for the trip now whenever we talked about it. Now I am not so sure the good vibes have anything to do with me. I guess I hadn't really thought much about playing human beyond moving like them, not to fast not to slow. I had no idea how to play shy or speak like a four-year old.

I wish we could put the trip off till I was older, the acting will be constant, if we don't have a home to go to we won't have much down time. I guess when we stay in hotels I can do what I want behind close doors and in the car. Dermott laughed when I mentioned camping as an alternative, he said that wouldn't work because if someone was crazy enough to camp in the late fall or early winter, they wouldn't bring a little kid with them.

They teased me about the silly stuff humans my age do the whole way back.

Just to add salt to my wounds, Zora had to bring up car seats; I would have to use one because it's the law. Then when I got to big for that they had booster seats, for kids that they should ride in until they are four feet nine inches. I would be four by then before I could be in a car without some extra restraints, or allowed to sit in the front seat. Yeah driving around US is going to be lots of fun.

"Why are you so down, child?" Kachiri asked when we got back from the city.

"Did you have any idea how dumb four-year old humans are? I have to have to act like that. Then they tell me when we get to the US I have to ride in a car seat, then a booster seat until I'm like four, not human four my four. I have to be four feet nine before I cannot ride in one." I rant, and everyone laughs again.

"Whatever - I'm staying in the Jungle, you all go play human when I'm tall enough and can speak like I do now I'll meet you." This cause a new round of hysterics from my family, but they don't know that I am only half kidding.

"Don't be sad child, you can stay with us while the family goes to play with humans" Zafrina states totally seriously. Which stops my family,

"No, she's coming with us. It will just take some getting used to, you'll be fine Bella." Mom states in firm voice, of course I can't ruin _my birthday trip_ I think sarcastically. I wouldn't really leave the family anyway, but way to be supportive mom. I'll be fine - I'm always fine. It's not her fault I don't tell her anything, but then again why would I when her response is 'you'll be fine.' Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes I push on.

"I know I have to go but I was so worried about how you would react in the human world I didn't think about myself at all. I am going to be in public for hours every day, I can't even be myself because I am too smart. I mean really, you all have to act human but at least you don't have to act completely, you still get to be yourself, personality wise. While I have to act like a cartoon loving snot nose kid. What did you do when you were two Zora, did you have to act human at some point everyday? I know Nate didn't."

I am pissed now, no one thought about this stuff, myself included.

How did any of them think that I would enjoy acting like a four year old? We leave in a few days for a year long trip in the U.S. and I am not prepared at all.

"Umm, well we lived in Canada then and no, I never went in public much. Nate home schooled me that year, because I would rather watch TV than read."

"OK"

"What do you mean OK?" Dermott asked

"Whatever, for the next year I will have to act like a little kid when we are public. I am just as mad at myself as I'm all of you for not thinking about it. Just know that when the year is up, the next year when we are in Europe I don't want to _have_ to act like anything other than myself. I'll be back later, I'm just going to the river."

**_N – P.O.V._**

Isa walked off, she did not even bother to run, she left us all in stunned silence. I pride myself in knowing Isa better than everyone else. I'm the one the only one who knows about her power and normally I'm the one she comes to when she has a problem. I have never seen her mad like this, frustrated? Yes. Irritated? Definitely. Worried? Almost always. Even when I made my bad joke about Joham a few weeks ago, she was not half as upset as she is now. She is beyond, pissed now and because we were all running back no one really looked at her to see if the teasing was getting under her skin.

Then when she told the Amazons we laughed at her, it was just a funny sight to see her ranting about human children, when she looks just like one. Then Renée blew off her concerns for a split second, I thought she was going to blow up, but she took a deep breath and spoke normally.

"See Huilen, I have been trying just like we talked about. But lately she has just been so dramatic!"

"Renée your selfishness is showing!" Huilen snapped.

"We were all too worked up over the trip and being part of society, I never even considered how she would have to behave. Well not until today when we were in Rio." Dermott say to the group of us, we nod in agreement.

"She's right, I never had to do stuff like that when I was small. I'm sorry that I teased her about it now." Zora says sadly.

"You were just having fun Zora you did know how she would react, it's not like this is her normal behavior." Renée defends Zora.

"I know but think about Renée, what if you couldn't even speak when we go out in public, how much fun would that be for you?" I ask her gently. I know this is the kind of talk where she will think we are picking on her.

"I guess that would be hard, but still she can talk with us without the humans hearing." Renée smiles like she won the lottery. Zora snorts.

"Yeah, cause I love looking at the ground all day! You never know what you may find down there," Zora states with thick sarcasm.

"Zora, you don't need to act like that. I know what you're trying to say but find a way to get it out with being nasty," Says Huilen.

"Well, she said knows that we are going on the trip, so I guess she'll make do. It won't be so bad once we get there, she'll have fun."

The Amazons have been listing quietly, Zafrina looks like she could kill Renée for the last comment but Kachiri grabs her hand and they stand a leave.

"My God, how can you act like this is no big deal, she is going to be totally miserable and all you care about is your damn trip. It's a year long Renée, much of the stuff you have planed she can't even do! You know that big carnival in South Carolina, she can't go on any of the rides and it's not like she will want to go for the food or the petting zoo. She wants to go because you do and she didn't know that she couldn't go on the rides. We didn't even think about it. What about the concerts, in Nashville? She can't do that. You want to go ice-skating at Rockefeller center, if she skates like a human four-year old how much fun will that be." Zora yells while waving her hands around.

"OK - OK I see your point! You don't have to yell," Renée barks.

"Apparently it's the only way to get you to understand. So what are we going to do about?" Zora asks

Dermott and Huilen think that we should cancel the trip. Zora thinks we can do it but have to make more of the stops Isa friendly and make longer breaks in the state parks so that she cannot act her physical age more often. Renée agrees with Zora. She thinks that as hard as the trip will be for Isa, it will be good for her too. Dermott says we should just do the East coast portion of the trip, and then settle down. I stay quite letting them try to come up with a solution, but I know it won't matter. Even if Dermott convinces Renée, Isa is not going to let them cancel the trip. Finally when I say just that, the other reluctantly agrees except for Renée.

"What do you mean she wouldn't let us cancel the trip?"

"She knows that we were all looking forward to it, the only thing that she as been upset about in regards' to the trip was making sure that you were going to have fun and be safe. Remember the first two conversations we all had about the trip, even today as mad as she is she never said for us not to go. She said that she was too busy worrying about you to think about herself. So try to remember that when you call her dramatic, or tell her she will be fine without hearing what she said." I like Renée but I really wonder if she knows her daughter at all.

"I've been trying" Renée starts to reply, but Huilen jumps in.

"We know Renée, you've been better but this lapse in judgment is on all of us not just you. We ALL let her down, none of us looked at from her point of view long enough to realize what we were asking of her."

"Huilen is right, no one is blaming you and you have been a little better. Just keep reminding yourself it's not all about you. Being part of a family means putting others first sometimes and that's what Bella is doing with the trip." Dermott says firmly.

"Alright, I am going to check on her." Renée mutters, then runs off.

The rest of us look at the maps that we have downloaded and printed off when we were in Rio, looking for hunting areas and places that Isa can enjoy. We all feel bad for not thinking about what this would truly be like for her. Renée comes back looking sad only a few minutes later,

"She won't really talk to me, I tried, I really did. Her response only was _"like you said mom, it will just take some getting used to, I'll be fine."_ I didn't think about how that must have felt to her when I said it, till she said it back to me. Anyway, she says she sleeping out there and would like Zora to bring her a hammock."

Zora left and was back in less time than Renée. The rest of the night passed slowly and sleep was difficult to find. The others didn't want to leave in case Isa came back for some reason. She did not show until almost noon the following day, she was with the Amazons. Not looking at any of us she picked up backpack then came to a stop near Renée.

"May I have Zafrina use the war paint on me, it will not be any place seen by the humans?"

"Sure honey, thank you for asking. Are you doing better?" Renée responded softly

"I'll be fine." Isa said in an emotionless voice.

"Will you please come back here tonight to sleep?" Renée asked almost quietly enough for us not to hear.

"Fine." with that Isa was and Zafrina were gone, I almost let out a snort.

"Well, it looks like we know what her response will be for a while, whatever will be fine."

Huilen says, "Just give her some more time, then we can sit her down about the changes to the trip."

"God, I told her it would work out the day we left the tree house, then Dermott had a similar conversation a few days after that. Renée is always saying things will be fine. I guess this is her way of showing us what she thinks of fine." I mutter.

I was right, when she came back late that night anytime someone asked anything her response was whatever we said would be fine. It was also her only response the following day. On the third day she finally had something else to say it wasn't pleasant.

"Bella, would you like to go hunting with us before we go to Rio to get the IDs?" Renée asked

"No."

"OK then, we'll meet back here before we leave, see you in an hour or so."

"No."

"What do you mean, no? It would really be helpful if you said more than, I'll be fine or fine, or no, Bella" Great, Renée was starting to lose her temper. Isa finally looks up, her eyes were hard as they roamed over Renée's face.

"No, I will not be going in to Rio, that's something you enjoy not me. I will be fine here." Isa said in a flat voice but her eyes were fierce.

"Bella you're going to have to talk to us soon. We made some changes." Isa cut in with a hiss.

"I said I'LL BE FINE! Go to Rio enjoy your day, I am staying here." With that she hopped up and ran off.

We left to hunt, deciding to just do it on the way to the city. Renée asked when Bella would forgive her. She was really upset, her voice broke at the end but we all just keep running towards the city none of us knew when Isa would forgive us.

In Rio we picked up the IDs, then Renée wanted to get a souvenir. She said that this was an important milestone in her new life, it was but it would also be a reminder of the hurt we all brought to Isa. She finally settled on a bracelet, made of leather and handmade resin beads that wrapped around her wrist several times. She wanted Zora to find something that Isa would like.

"Renée, I don't think that Rio is a city that Bella would want a souvenir from." Was Zora's diplomatic response.

"Yeah, I guess your right." Renee's mood falls again.

On the run back Renée ran next to me, then she started up again.

"She has never been mad at me like this before, I wish I knew when she would forgive me. It's not like I upset her on purpose. She'll let it go soon don't you think. She can't keep this up much longer we are leaving for the tree house in the morning, right?" She keeps rambling for a while. "Nate are you listening to me?"

"I am, but I don't have any answers, other than the fact that yes, we are leaving for home in the morning."

"So you have no idea how to get Bella to talk to me again?" That was a hard question to give an honest answer to I wanted Renée to be able to come up with the answer herself. Then again it has been almost three full days.

"Have you tried to apologize, I am just waiting till she at least looks at me before I try to talk to her but when that happens that will be the first thing I do." I tell her honestly

"Of course I did, the very first night and at least once a day since. But she won't even look at me like you said, and only answers if we ask her a direct question. It's starting to get ridiculous." Renée was getting a little huffy at the end. I heard Dermott let out a low growl of disapproval, which ended the conversation.

When we got back to the temple, it was clear that Isa had been crying. The Amazons stood when we entered the space they were saying good-byes, I'm sure that was the cause of Isa' tears. Zafrina pulled me into a hug, which I thought was odd till she whisper hissed in my ear,

"Get that newborn under control before she hurts Isa anymore." then in a louder voice, "Be safe in your travels." Zafrina was very protective of Isa and was clearly still holding a grudge towards Renée.

Kachiri addressed our family as a whole "Isa did not know when you all would be back. From now on when you need or want to see us just come here, we will be sure to check in often so you don't have to run all over the rain forest." Then they were gone.

Then Dermott cleared his throat loudly, it was so odd for him to do so, that even Isa looked up.

"We are planning to leave in the morning, is that OK with everyone still?" He paused to check responses well all nodded so he continued. "It should only take us a day to get back. When we get back it will take at least two days to get the house sorted and packed. Zora don't forget, two duffel bags max for what we take with us, not your whole wardrobe. Bella we made some changes to the trip, it should make it a little bit better for you. As a family we considered canceling or at least postponing. However, Nahuel pointed out that you would not want that so, we have done our best to try to make as easy as possible for you. We are truly sorry that we did not think the trip though from your perspective and that this will be difficult for you."

"I accept your apologies." Isa said with a curt nod, clearly it would take some time to get back to where we were. Renée however, jumped up and pulled Isa into a hug.

"I'm so glad you forgave me, this trip will be great you'll see Baby. I'm so sorry it's going to be hard for you and that we didn't think about. I didn't know how much longer I could survive without you talking to me. That was just awful I'm so glad we can put this silliness behind us." Isa let out a huge growl and push out of Renee's arms.

**_AN: Thanks for reading and please review!_**

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**

**_12/10/12_**


	16. back in the US of A

**_Chapter 16 – Back in the US of A_**

**_N – P.O.V._**

"What was that for Bella?" Renée asked sounding hurt.

"Mom I love you, but you have more to be sorry for than the others. You don't even do it on purpose, but you do it all the time but it needs to stop. Did you hear what you just said to me, you said that '_we can put this silliness behind us._' It is not silliness that I was so mad at you that I couldn't talk without yelling. And while I was mad about having to act like a little human child all the time that's not the worst of. It was that I was upset; everyone thought it was funny and then you just blew it off. _'It will just take some getting used to, you'll be fine Bella.'_ I am not some small child who you can placate when I have a valid reason for being upset."

"I don't do it on purpose, I don't mean to hurt your feelings." Renée looks like she may cry.

"I know but that's sorta my point, you don't think before you say things! I just would like if you would try to look at thing from my point of view. How would you feel if you were having a hard time around the humans and Huilen said nonchalantly _'It will just take some getting used to, you'll be fine Renée.'_ Because that's what you said to me when I was upset trying to figure out how the hell I am supposed to behave around humans."

"I didn't think of it like that I'm sorry."

"I know." Isa said flatly

"What can I do to make it up to you?" Renée pleaded.

"You can stop doing it." Isa snorted "Look I know you don't do it to hurt me, but if you keep doing it then you can expect me to be mad whenever you do."

"Alright it get, I'll try harder. I really am sorry."

"I know mom" with that she walked away and got into her hammock.

By the time we made it home the following day, we were all back to normal, with the exception Isa and Renée. Isa had taken the time to talk with each one of us on the run back. When I spoke with Isa , she showed me her newest war paint that Zafrina had done while we were in Rio. It was an infinity symbol with the word strength written as part of the line, in the same spot as the Aristotle quote, on the left foot. After the third time she asked if I really liked it, I asked why it mattered so much if I liked it. She smiled and said that took many years for the color to fade. I couldn't believe that she had done it permanently, Renée would have a fit and Zora would be so jealous. When she sees my face she burst out laughing, it was great to hear for the first time in five days. She said they wouldn't find out for a while so who cares. They also let her keep the tooth so Zora could do one eventually.

**_D – P.O.V._**

Leaving the tree house is always an undertaking; we have to remove everything. Normally when we leave a home we take what we want and leave the rest or just call and have someone pick it all up as donations. However out here in the rainforest that's not a possibility, if we left it all out it would be destroyed from the humidity. I built an underground storage unit back in the sixties it seals tight like a bomb shelter; we store our things there when we leave.

This home is our go to place; we always come back here like a base of operations. It's nice because it's not part of civilization we don't have to worry about coming back too often or if anyone will recognize us, out here we can have zero interaction with humans. It's nice to have the comforts of home without the burn when you want a break. We have never stayed away for more than five years, although some of our stays were as short as a few months.

Renée is in a hurry to leave, but we told Bella and Nate that we would wait to meet the Nagual back with the Amazons. I must say I am intrigued, I had never thought to ask the Amazons about tribal legends and what other super natural's they had run into over the years. I have heard many stories about werewolves, from Caius in Volterra, but had never heard of Nagual or skin-walkers. Apparently, they are very different, but if you only heard the legends you wouldn't know that. Bella says that they will be here today that Hector knows we leave for the US tonight.

I hope that Renée gets back before they show up it means a lot to Bella that we meet her new friends. We all hunted early this morning, but Renée insisted that he gets one more hunt in before our flight. It's overkill but at least she is trying to be safe, that or maybe she just needed to run off the extra energy.

Bella was noticeably depressed; I spoke to her about it. She assured me she was just sad about leaving home and that she was ok with the trip and with the changes we made. Things with Bella and Renée are not back to normal but they are better, it's clear that they are both trying. I must say I find it somewhat humorous, to hear Bella hiss at Renée every time she starts to put her foot in her mouth; but it keeps the peace sort of. I can tell Renée gets frustrated but at least now she is becoming aware of how often she makes comments that offend others.

I am pulled out of my thoughts by Renée's return.

"So, I was thinking that we could head to the airport sooner rather than later, we have to get through customs and all that." She says hopefully. I feel Huilen shake her head, she gives my hand a gently squeeze, that helps to ground me. Renée has said this at least four times today to me personally.

"We have a few more hours yet, we planned for the time to get through customs." Huilen answers in a patient tone; the woman has unnatural amounts of patience.

"I know; I'm just ready to go." Renée says with a huff and lowers herself to the floor.

"Yes ,that's what you have said several times today. What about the rest of us? Not to mention your daughter would be heartbroken." Huilen says; she is very good at pointing out Renée's selfishness without coming across as "picking on her", Renée looks puzzled.

"What would Bella have up be upset about, I thought she was ok with the trip again? Has she said something to you about it?" Renée rattles off in a soft voice trying not to be overheard.

"Have you forgotten that we are expecting company? It's really important to Bella and Nate that we meet them; they both have found a new friend in Hector. I must say I am looking forward to meeting them as well." I say with frustration.

"What do you mean Hector is coming? That giant _cat thing_ we are back to that, they met him already, why would he come here." Renée whispers, at least Bella will not have to know that somehow she was not listening to Bella go on about Hector back when we were with the Amazons.

"You're doing it again. How would you like it if someone called you a thing? And the day of your yelling match with Zafrina; Bella and Nate told us all about him, they also said that he was stopping by before we left for the U.S., but clearly you did not want to hear it so you didn't listen." Huilen says simply, just as Bella yells out,

"I hear them the coming now!" Boy is that an understatement, they are coming in fast, at least as fast as a vampire. It makes my instinct kick in; I feel the need to defend, just from the sound of them. Bella runs from Nahuel's room straight off the deck to greet them, the others follow her. Renée lets out a growl and stands to follow but I grab her, as Huilen drops down after the others.

"They are friends; don't go out there growling just because you did not listen when we were told they were coming." I whisper hiss at her.

We calmly walk out to deck the view is incredible. Three huge Jaguars, two with normal coloring and a black one that is even bigger than the two stand twenty yards from our home. I thought the sound of them set off my instincts but it is nothing compared to the sight of them. I have to work hard to swallow the growl that wants to escape from seeing Huilen and the others standing with them. Renée doesn't, she let out a fierce growl cause all three of the Jaguars to lock eyes on us, and they growl right back and crouch down looking ready to attack. Bella jumps at the sound, looks to us turning her back on the others as I tighten my hold around Renée to prevent her from engaging them further.

"Mother, please!" then she looks back to the Jag's. "I am truly sorry; that's my mother Renée and Dermott"

All but one then relaxes, then the black one hisses at him and he comes out of his crouch. Renée is still not calm, I am sure that if I let go she would attack.

"Why don't you guys go change so we can talk?" Bella addresses them softly.

They nod, duck behind some trees and reappear looking human. We are then introduced to Hector, Jorge and Manuel. Renée and I stayed up on the deck; I explained that she was young and having difficulty controlling her instincts. Manuel laughed saying they left their youngest at home for the same reason. We spent the next hour talking and they were all really friendly. They were most interested in knowing how we became "vegetarian" and of course about the hybrids. Manuel was working writing a book of legends and myths of South America; he said he would leave us out of it thankfully. He also promised to give Bella the supernatural version that would include us; she was so happy I thought she would burst.

I felt the need to warn them of the Volturi, because if word reached the royals they would be sure to investigate. When they were getting ready to leave Bella, blushed bright red and asked if she could take a photo of them, then she rambled on about not having many friends, and would never show anyone. Hector cut her off with a hug, he said sure as long as someone would email a copy to him. They posed with Manuel holding Bella, that's when I noticed his eyes were like hers. He noticed me staring at his eyes and said.

"You know it's a sign of power, all the strongest beings have marked this way. I was the first Black Jaguar in two thousand years and am the largest in our history. All of the strongest scorers were marked this way as well. She is special, keep her safe. OK one more photo with us in our other form, and then we will be off."

They posed with Bella on Manuel back like she was riding a horse, with Hector and Jorge on either side of them. It was amazing, and Bella couldn't stop laughing. It was great to see her having fun with her new friends. They left after Bella hugged each of them, promises to email soon to tell them about our trip.

*~*O*~*

The flight into Atlanta was uneventful. They hybrids slept and we pretended to sleep as well. When we got off the plane, it was painfully obvious that Bella was having a difficult time playing the part. Renée was carrying her on her hip, like any human would while traveling with a young child. Bella looked uncomfortable in Renée's arms, perhaps like a child being held by a stranger, Huilen whispered instructions to Bella as we walked. Just little things that made the big picture better, '_lay your head on her shoulder', 'now close your eyes', 'when you sit back up look around like you don't know where you are'._ This just highlighted the fact that we did not think this through. By the time we got to the rental cars Bella was fuming, she even growled quietly when Renée put her in the car seat. Nahuel and Aurora went in one car while we left in the other, it was about a fifty mile drive to the B&B we were staying at, it was just outside Juliette and backed up the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge. We were all subdued, except Renée and her rambling about what she saw back at the airport or what were doing the next day. Finally she slipped.

"See Bella that wasn't so bad, I mean you were a bit awkward at first, but once Huilen told you what to do you seemed fine." She was just trying to engage someone in conversation.

"Yup Mom fine, just FINE; I got to pretend to sleep while you held me and now I sitting in a car seat. Listening to you talk about how cool this and that was at the airport, well guess what I didn't see any of this or that I was too busy sleeping." Bella growled out.

"Oh, well I didn't mean to upset you. I was just saying you did a good job, after Huilen told you how to act." She can never let it go; she has this strange need to defend everything she says.

"You never mean to upset me and the fact that I had to be told how to be carried by my own mother is somewhat sad, Mom. Just let it go, you had fun, I am happy for you, but I did not and you did not even notice." Bella said trying to end the conversation.

"But Bel. . " Renée sputtered.

"I said let it go mom, I don't want to fight and the fact that you didn't mean to or didn't know doesn't change anything."

"Alright, I'm sorry Bella."

When we got to the B&B, we split off into our rooms. Huilen and I whispered worriedly most of the night. She told me to take the Hybrids with me when we drive out to Savannah in the morning so that she could speak with Renée. She was trying to come up with a signal so she could clue Renée in if something was wrong with Bella, without drawing the attention of Bella. She thinks Renée just forgets, I think my lovely mate is making excuses for her friend. It's sad that we are planning ways to make Renée's relationship with Bella better; I know Bella would be deeply wounded if she knew.

On the ride to Savannah I worked on Bella, while Huilen was with Renée. We told her small thing to do to make her seem more like the age she looked without going overboard. Like to always make sure she held someone's hand and if some asked her question rather than trying to answer she can look away and move closer to whomever she is with. I carefully turned the conversation towards the incident with Renée.

"I know this is all hard for you, but your mom was right when she said you did a good job last night in the airport." I said trying to put a positive spin on it.

"Thanks." she said sarcastically, causing the other two to snicker.

"You know what I mean Bella; it will get easier and we won't have to coach you that much." She just nods when I look at her in the rear view mirror; I struggle to find a way to get her to talk about her mother.

"Whatever it is, just say it Dermott."

"I know that she hurt you last night and I'm sorry. Huilen thinks she just gets distracted easily still, you know she loves you."

"I know and don't be sorry for someone else's behavior. I get it; she was very overwhelmed and excited in the airport. I was too, overwhelmed anyway, but my point is that I am in her arms, having no idea what to do and she just carries on like everything is normal. I really was upset that she did nothing; she had no reaction to the fact that I was struggling. Then I figured out that she didn't even notice; that hurt. Huilen had to tell me how to be held by my mother how strange is that? Then I lay there thinking about it, do you know that I've hugged or been hugged by all of you more than by my own mom. She never really hugs me, I know that part of it is because Vampires aren't very touchy feely unless it with their mate but I'm her kid. So that's what I was thinking about when she said how it wasn't that bad and I seemed fine. Yup; I was not fine and it was bad. I'm sick of her saying sorry, how many times do I have to hear that word from her mouth. It has no meaning because she never changes how she acts."

"You need to tell all that, if she knew how bad she made you feel she would stop, she has been better lately" Zora says, I see Nahuel nodding

"Sure Zora, how do I do that without hurting her or fighting with her. As soon as I tell her anything like that she defends her behavior, that makes me mad and then we fight. I can't ignore her behavior it but I can't spot it either." Bella says calmly.

"I know what you're saying but we have to do something; you guys have been fighting a lot." Zora says passionately

"I know ever since my birthday. I think it's because she felt the need to defend herself about the trip, then she was jealous of the Amazons but not enough want to skip going to the city, to spend time with me. I mean we haven't spent any time together really; we use to at least hunt together every couple days, but nothing like that has happened since the day of the fight about the trip. "She says with a shrug, like it's no big deal but that was five weeks ago.

That must be the real reason Bella has such a low tolerance for her mother lately, it was because they weren't spending time together and when they did Renée would stick her foot in her mouth. At Home Renée would usually seek Bella out to do stuff, and she has been too wrapped up in herself to seek out Bella. I really did spend a lot of the last month working on Renée's control; we hadn't spent much time with the Amazons or the hybrids. But when Huilen and I came back to the temple we were interested to hear about what they had done with the day, while Renée did not partake in much of the conversation.

In Savannah we just walked around the historic district. It was filled with beautiful homes, unique shops and restaurants. I feel the best part was the amazing old buildings that have been so well cared for through the years. There were also many parks from the simple to the spectacular like Forsythe Park. It was nice that we weren't in crowds the way we would be tomorrow, so Bella was able to be herself mostly. It was hard to watch, as she would look around to see if she could speak her mind or had to keep quiet.

Thankfully it was a cloudy day, we were able to head to Tybee Island and spend some time on the beach, which was Renée's pick of the day. It was at the beach I was able to get Renée alone.

"I want to ask you this without you getting defensive, Ok? When was the last time you did anything with Isabella? Or even asked how her day was? I don't mean the standard 'what are your plans for the day' that you have recently started. I don't want you to answer, just think about it honestly."

One the ride back to the B&B Renée was quiet and only really spoke when spoken to. The four of us spoke about what we like best about Savannah, I made sure to ask Bella questions directly not waiting for her to chime in. I noticed that Renée seemed to watch how Huilen and I interacted with Bella. We don't talk at her, we ask questions and engaged in conversations, about what she likes, thinks, and even dislikes. When we split up to head to our rooms, Bella pulled me into a hug and whispered her thanks. It was a great way to end the day with the family. Huilen went to our room the slip out the window and ran into the forest for the night.

**_R-P.O.V._**

Huilen and I rode together to Savannah; she kept quiet for the first half hour of the ride. It was making me nervous; I click on the radio for some noise, but it didn't help. I could tell she wanted something and I had a feeling it wasn't good. I shift in my seat a few times, I was uncomfortable, and I'm a vampire so I couldn't be physically uncomfortable, but somehow I was. Finally I couldn't take it any more.

"Just say whatever it is you have to say." I snapped.

"Why would I have anything to say?" She asked in a patronizing tone.

"Clearly, you do otherwise we would be talking like normal."

"What did you want to talk about? You didn't start talking, how was I to know you wanted to talk?" She said in her 'clam down' voice.

I huff "I don't know" she just shrugged, but did not say a word. It was making me crazy, I could only hold out for four minutes and nineteen seconds.

"Let's just do what we always do lately, talk about Bella then move on other stuff." She nods again but still says nothing; she is doing her one of her head shrink tricks, I'm sure.

"Do you have anything to say about Bella?" I ask, feeling frustrated, she always helps why is she holding out now.

"She is a lovely child with too much stress. I think she is a bit lonely lately, and will miss our home more than any of us can understand." I grunt; that's so not what I meant and she knows it.

"I meant do you have anything to say about how she has been lately? You know all the fighting and how she hisses at me all the time, oh and she never lets me finish when I try to explain myself."

"Well not really, she only acts like that with you." She states perfectly calm. I wonder how she stays so calm, nothing gets to her?

"I know that, why?"

"I'm not sure Renée, it's not that bad you'll be fine." Ugh that word, after Bella said fine or some version of fine for two days I swore I never wanted to hear it come out of her mouth again.

"Gee, thanks, that was very helpful." She just nods, still not talking; it's really pissing me off.

"What the hell; you're supposed to help me with this stuff, you've always helped me figure out Bella! You have nothing to say now?" I shout and she looks at me then in her mirrors', she whips the car onto the shoulder of the highway, and then locks up the breaks; but still she says nothing, just looks at me.

"Look I didn't mean to yell, but really, I try getting you to talk to me and it's like you don't even care what I have to say. I mean, I need help with Bella I keep messing up, she going to end up wanting nothing to do with me." I was trying to back pedal.

"Your right" I start to panic, I can't believe she said that.

"I'm right, you don't care or I'm right Bella will want nothing to do with me?" I ask, feeling my stomach tighten.

"Both" she says nonchalantly.

"How can you not care?" I mumble

"That right there is why I don't care; you asked me if you were right about me not caring or about your _daughter _not wanting anything to do with you. When I say both, you immediately worry about yourself. How I could not care about what is upsetting YOU. Not that you could be doing serious damage to your relationship with Bella.

"YOU, YOU, YOU, it been the Renée show for weeks now. You need this, you need that, can I help you with, you ask for help we all give it to YOU. What do we get back Renée?

"I have tried to help you with Bella, but you don't listen. I want you to hear this, YOU are the only one having issues with Bella. How many people have YOU had issues with lately? Let's count shall we first Zora, then Bella, then Dermott chewed you out, then Bella some more, I pretty sure that Nahuel was avoiding you, Zafrina - let not forget you screaming at her and Bella at the same time.

"Then when Bella was upset, and none of us realized it, YOU make light of her feelings and she won't speak for days. And last night when we were in the airport, she was scared, you did not even notice. And then when we got to the car you told her "you seemed fine". So tell me Renée why should I help you? You are no longer our responsibility you made it to the year mark. So, what now?"

I have nothing to say.

"You let me know when you figure it out; because not even YOU can treat my family like you have for the past six weeks, and expect it to be ok. As far as I am concerned, YOU can go on YOUR trip alone."

_**AN: Thanks for reading and please review!**_

_** What do you think Renee will do next? **_

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

_***Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! ***_

_**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended.**_

_****__**12/11/12**_


	17. holding on & letting go

_**Chapter 17 – Holding on and letting go**_

_**R- P.O.V.**_

Huilen pulls back into traffic like nothing happened, we still have at least an hour's drive before I can get out of this god forsaken car. Is that all I am to them a responsibility? I mean I thought they liked me, they said we were a family. God everyone has been so worked up lately. Huilen blames me; that much is obvious. It seems like everything we do is about this trip, what's the big deal? I mean sure I didn't think about every little part of if the way they do, but it would have worked out.

The same bad feeling from early get stronger; I feel like I may vomit, but vampires don't get sick. That's why I never say anything about it to them, but it's been happening a lot lately.

So what now, that's the question, Huilen said I could go on the trip alone for all she cared. Maybe I should, but then I wouldn't have someone to do stuff with, god I feel sick, I wonder if I should tell Huilen? I better not, she's not in a good mood.

I try to stop thinking about the trip, I think about what Huilen said about me being the common denominator, in the fighting that seems to plague us lately.

_"You're all ruining my trip." I said when I was mad, about them planning without me, then Zora said it was Bella's trip. God I even called Bella brat._

_"Ok mommy, well tell me what you have planned." Bella said snidely, after I told her she worries too much and that it would all work out fine._

_"Weren't you listening to what I was telling you guys…" Bella asked me_

_"YOU did not want to go look for them and that YOU had better things to do" Zafrina snapped at me._

_"Mom ,I am not saying this to provoke you"_

_"I just don't understand why you are mad at me" Bella said sadly_

"_But when I come to you try not to blow it off, even if it's something that doesn't interest you" Bella said_

_"You're being self-centered and impulsive; I have been letting your behavior slide because I thought it was because you were a newborn, but I think maybe it's just who you are." Dermott growled at me._

_"Grow up Renée! You're not the victim" Dermott scoffed_

_"Your feeling upset because she did not talk to you but you never asked" Huilen points out_

_"Look at from someone else's viewpoint, how would you feel"_

_"Why are you so down, child?" Kachiri asked Bella, I did not see anything wrong with Bella_

_"It will just take some getting used to, you'll be fine Bella." I said in a hard voice when she made it sound like she did not want to come on the trip._

_"I was so worried about how you would react in the human world that I didn't think about myself at all." Bella said angrily_

_"But lately she has just been so dramatic!" I said referring to Bella trying to Huilen to help me._

_"I guess she'll make do. It won't be so bad once we get there she'll have fun." I said_

_"She's going to be totally miserable and all you care about is your damn trip" it was true, as soon as Dermott wanted to cancel it all I could think about was that could not happen._

_"Apparently it's the only way to get you to understand" Zora said after yelling at me._

_"Think it about Renée" they have all been telling me to think_

_"Your selfishness is showing" Huilen as made that comment a lot lately_.

_"I sorry" – "I did not mean to" – "know but" – "I trying" how often have said those words lately the only response I get any more is "__**I know**__"_

"_You can stop doing it" was the answer Bella gave me when I asked how to make it up to her. "If you keep doing it then you can expect me to be mad"_

_"you keep doing it, your trip, selfish, I know, YOU- YOU- YOU"_

_"because not even YOU can treat my family like you have for the past six weeks"_

_"what do we get back?"_

_"what now?"_

We arrived in Savannah, Huilen looked over at me.

"Just watch today, see what you are pushing away. This is your doing." With that she walked over to the others.

I felt like an outsider all day. They all talked with each other, they tried to involve me a few times but then gave up when I did not seem to care. It was interesting to watch as they seemed to feed off each other's joy. Dermott was the only one with a real passion for what we had planned, but everyone found something that interested him or her. Bella would look around to see if anyone could overhear her before she spoke, I could tell she was uncomfortable, but she was trying. They all enjoyed themselves, even Bella.

_"I'm trying" I have said so often, but am I?_

We made it to the beach finally towards the end of our day; it was my pick of the day. But I could not enjoy it, not with everything that was running through my mind. Dermott gave me even more to think about, it was clear his primary concern was for Bella in that moment. I continued to think during the ride back to the B&B. I was pushing them all away and I needed to stop.

I have to make it right . . . Starting with Bella.

As Bella slept, I thought about how to fix the mess that I have made with my family. Looking over they way I have acted and the things they have said to me lately, I know it will take more than me saying "I'm sorry." But I have to start somewhere and it seems like a good place. I had a really good feeling about today; I just had to get my apologies out of the way first.

After Bella woke and did her morning routine, I asked if we could talk. She sat on the bed and looked at me expectantly.

"I realize that my behavior lately has been hurtful, not only to you but to the rest of the family as well. I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry and " She scoffs and shakes her head.

"Mom, do you have any idea how many times you have said 'I'm sorry' to me lately? Those words coming from you have lost all meaning, you say them but never show any real remorse for your actions. I think you say it more because you're sorry I feel the way I do, but you don't hold yourself responsible for me or anyone else being upset." She says sadly.

"I'm sure that you don't have much faith that I mean the words, but I truly do. I know that me saying won't actually do anything but I am going to try harder. Before you say it I know that have said that a lot lately as well. You said that the way to make it up to you was to stop, but I did not really get it then. I do now, I know this will take time, but I'll prove it to you I promise."

She is looking hopeful; I tried to very hard to make her see that I understand now. I do because Huilen treated me the way I have been treating Bella and everyone else in the family, she pointed out several of my more hurtful moments.

"I really hope so Mom, because I hate fighting with you, but at the same time I can't keep ignoring that fact that you belittle me and my feeling." She said regretfully.

"Well, from now on I will do my best to look at things from your point of view and think before I speak. I really don't do it on purpose, but I now realize how much it hurts you. I'm sure that I'll mess up and when I do, I'll try not get defensive, I don't like fighting with you either."

"Thank you mom, that means a lot." She gave me a quick hug.

I ask Bella to wait in our room while I apologized to the rest of the family. I went to Nate and Zora first, they both seemed happy that I finally got it, but Nate also reminded me that actions speak louder than words. Huilen and Dermott stayed silent during my speech, I looked up nervously when I finished, and Dermott spoke first.

"I'll believe you when I see the changes for myself. Your family and we love you but that doesn't mean I have to like you. Lately, you have given me no reason to like you." He stood and left, I worked hard to hold in my sob, he was right. I gave my family no reason to like me; I had been horrible to them while they had been great to me.

"I also wanted to thank you Huilen, your talk in the car yesterday seems to be just what I need. I'm sorry for taking advantage of our friendship." I whispered to Huilen.

"I'm glad to hear that Renée, it was meant as a wake up call but I only spoke the truth. I'm glad you see what your actions are doing to us all. I wish you the best of luck in curbing your selfishness and temper. I'm still here for you but I can't do it for you, I hope you see that now "

"I do."

I asked if we could have a girl's morning on the drive into Atlanta, had a really good feeling about today. So we split in to our group then hit the road. I suggested we play silly road trip games. Zora and Bella loved playing the game "Who are they?" They came up with the wildest stories about the people in the other cars, thing like international art thefts and living on compounds where they believed in aliens. It was very entreating. Then we played "Would you Rather?" Huilen started with a round of would you rather have only hunt this or that, with gross suggestions like skunks, squirrel, sewer rats, pigeons and other things we would never dream of hunting. Bella asked things like being blind or deaf? Her questions were good at starting debates about why we picked the way we did. We laughter and talked the whole way into the city, I think it was the most fun we have ever had as a group. I felt that I was well on my way to getting my family back.

_**B - P.O.V.**_

After mom's apology on second morning of our trip I _felt_ hopefully optimistic, it was a nice change from the _feelings_ that have been coming from her power lately. We had a great drive into the city, we spent hours in the Aquarium, then went to the Fernbank Science center and then on the drive back to the B&B Nate and Dermott drove right behind us so we could all play moms silly games together. It was the first time we had done something, as a whole family without bickering since my birthday it was great.

We spent the rest of the week in Georgia; mom even found us a Halloween Parade/ Street fair, to go to. Zora went crazy with ideas for our costumes; always group ideas - Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Batman, Harry Potter and she even tried to get us to all dress as vampires. Dermott said we could absolutely not dress as vampires. So Zora went with the Batman theme, our costumes were totally over the top. Mom as Catwomen was covered head to toes in tight black leather. Zora dressed as Poison Ivy in a green body suit with ivy in her hair. Nate was Two-face with face make up the crazy suit Zora made. Dermott and Huilen both went as the Joker, in bright green wigs, purple suits and white face paint. They tried to get me to go as Batgirl, but I didn't want to be the only good guy, so Zora made me Harly Quinn. She made me red and black split everything, tights, skirt, shirt and even the silly hat.

We had so much fun looking at all the other costumes and just walking around the fair for the afternoon. Nate went to vote for the costume contest and overheard that apparently we lots of people voted for us in the group contests so we had to leave early. Mom and Zora we both bummed that we could not accept our prize. Dermott had to remind them that we could not be photographed and put in the newspaper, even in costumes it was too big of a risk. We drove to Alabama that night, stopping to hunt along the way.

Hunting on the trip had been an ordeal the vampires had to go scout the area first, looking for both human and Vampire scents before any of the hybrids we allowed to head in to the forest. It was strange for me to be areas that were so heavily populated, there really wasn't much wilderness in the areas we have been to. We were all always on alert trying to make sure that we did not run into any other vampires.

We also had to carry cell phones while on our trip, a very odd concept to me. Dermot was the only one of us that I have ever seen use a phone; he used one time to call his Irish friends. The only numbers we had we that of other family members, Nate did not even have a phone number for Jennifer or Maysun.

We had a great time in Alabama and Mississippi, doing lots of touristy things, from Riverboat rides to Glass blowing classes. Mom had us doing some off the wall stuff as well like a stop at Elvis Presley's birthplace, because she wanted to also go to Graceland when we reached Tennessee.

I had used my mom's power a lot over the last two weeks and was trying to find ways to hint at it to her. Each morning I would say stuff like I have a good feeling about today or something like that.

One morning I told her I had a funny _feeling_ about the day, it was not a horrible _feeling_ just not great. According to the weather it was supposed to be cloudy all day, but as we went to leave a plantation tour the sun broke out of the cloud cover. The vampires were stuck inside for an extra hour, coming up with excuses to not go outside. It was nothing major but still a little hiccup in our plans, they rushed to the car as soon as they had cover, the sun stayed out all afternoon and we had to cut our day short. I was sure to tell Nate all about it later.

We have now been in the Nashville area for two days, Mom and the others have been going into town for concerts at night. Now we have reservations to stay at Union Station hotel for the next two nights. I have a horrible _feeling_ about it, but they all are going on about what a great hotel how it right in the heart of the city and all the history of the building. I keep shaking my head no when Nate makes eye contact. I can't see how to get out of going and from the look on his face he has no ideas either.

"Are we sure that it's safe to stay in the city? What about hunting?" I ask the group.

"We all hunted yesterday Bella. We have been in the city for the last two nights and have not come across any Vampire scents. I don't see any issues." Dermott answers me in a reassuring tone.

He can't help with the bad _feeling_ I have. What ever it is, it's going to be bad. The _feeling_ is still not as bad if I tell them about my powers, so I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

*~*O*~*

I must say that the suite is amazing, the others are talking about where to go for the night. Nate is staying in with me and I feel bad because someone has to stay with me to keep up human pretenses. Mom has made a few comments about the sweet scent in the hotel but I can't smell anything unexpected, she seems stressed but I'm not sure why.

Someone knocks on the door and the_ feeling_ is now so strong I'm almost in tears. Nate rushes to the door having seen the look on my face. As soon as he opens it a loud crash takes my attention off the door.

.

.

.

_A/N: Thanks for reading and please review! Merry Christmas, happy holidays, happy Hanukkah __and anything else I missed, be sure to enjoy your family during this season_

**_- Should Nate find his mate sooner or later?_**

**_- Should it be a character in the books or should I make someone new?_**

_Let me know what you think, I have a few ideas already but would love some input!_

_Also check out my profile for a **poll**, charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**_12/23/12_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement inte_**


	18. crazed

Chapter 18 - Crazed

**_B- P.O.V._**

Dermott is fighting mom as she tries to rush the door. I wrap them all up in the shields; I am trying to slow down mom without being obvious. Nate flies back into the room, joining the others in trying to restrain mom. It looks like its taking all three of them to hold her down, but I really have pined with the shield.

Huilen is talking to her in a low voice, telling her over and over to stop breathing. She is snarling, hissing and thrashing under my shield. Zora is dashing around the room stuffing our things back in our bags, I can only sit and watch. I can't believe how bad the room looks, the bed mom where was sitting is covered in shredded blankets and the mattress is flipped onto the floor. Also large dent in the wall next to the dresser, the mirror is cracked as well. The whole mess only took less than thirty-seconds to make, but I have no clue how we are going to fix it or how we are going to get out of the hotel now.

After a few minutes mom is not fighting or breathing any more anymore she is just laying still. Dermott sends Zora to break into an empty room and steal the bedding. I push the dresser in front of the dent in the wall, but I can't do anything about the cracked mirror. Then Zora and I remade the bed. She stuffed the destroyed blankets into Huilen's duffel bag. They others finally lifted mom off the floor, she was still not breathing and had her eyes closed tight.

"Alright, we are leaving the hotel via the stairwell. Zora you go pull the car around front and wait for us there. Bella, I need you to go with Nahuel, we will follow you down the stairs, and then you two go to the other car. We will come back for our things later. Renée keep holding your breath till we get in the car with Zora. Can you open your eyes for me Renée?" She nodded then slowly opened her eyes they were completely black.

Zora had left before Dermott had finished speaking to us. Nate picked me up as we left the room; Dermott and Huilen still had moms arms gripped tightly. I felt like we were traveling in slow motion, I just wanted us to get out of here before we ran into any more problems. I feel so sorry for my mom; she had never reacted that way to the scent of a human, even her first time smelling them she did not need to be held back.

We make it the bottom of the stairwell, Dermott moves so his arm is around moms waste; Huilen clutches her arm with both hands it almost looks like they are comforting her. We walk at a quick human pace through the lobby, when we get outside they rush towards the car. Dermott calls over his shoulder that he will call us later we watch the three of them slip into the back seat together, never letting go of mom.

Once in our car Nate just looks at me in the back seat for a full minute.

"How bad was your _feeling_ about today?"

"Pretty bad, not as bad if we started the trip in LA or if I tell everyone about my powers." I answer as honestly as I can.

"Did it get worse when I made the choice to get the door? You looked ready to burst into tears." He asked calmly

"No, it started to get worse when I was in the shower, what happened then?"

He lets out a grunt shakes his head, "Zora call for more towels, that's why the woman came to our door."

"Well, we had no way of stopping her, I was in the shower and you didn't know anything other than I had a bad feeling about staying in the Hotel."

"Isa did you help us stop her, your mom I mean? When she was fighting us off, I thought I felt your shield a few times but I couldn't pay attention."

"Yeah, I didn't want anyone getting hurt, I had her in one just slowing her down some, then I held her down with you guys. I almost just put her in a bubble, I don't know why I didn't." I try to explain.

"Well, if that was her with your help I can only assume that the delivery women would be dead without you. You don't have any bad feelings about them going hunting do you?" he asks hesitantly.

"No, I think everything will be alright. What do we do now?"

"Long term now, I have no idea. Now as right now, whatever we want."

"I think we should find out where they are headed and meet them there, I'm sure she's upset and I could use my shield if need be, I mean you don't think she will run back here do you, maybe" he cut in, I was just rambling now.

"No. We'll stay in the city for the day. Give your mom a chance to calm down, before we talk with her. This is hard for us to really understand, our bloodlust is not nearly as bad as that of a full vampire, let Dermott and Huilen help her. I'm sure that Zora is going to come back, after she drops them someplace to hunt." He said reassuring me.

"Are you sure, what if they need help?" I just wanted to go after them; I need to know they are ok.

"You tell me Isa, what is your intuition telling you? I think we should stay here and you want to go after them. Make the choice then see what we should do?" He sounds frustrated, I already knew we were better off staying but my heart wanted to follow them.

"You're right, what do you want to do?" I asked still not happy that we weren't going after them.

"Let's just go back to the room, we will wait for Zora's call then find something to do."

So we went back to the room to wait. Nate did his best to distract me; we spent our afternoon speaking in Russian, my latest langue. I did not calm down until we heard from Zora. We had been in the room for nearly three hours when she called, saying that she took them all the way out past Chattanooga to Great Smokey Mountains National Forest. She said we should grab the bags and head down; we would be getting a room for the night someplace closer to the others.

We arrived at the Ocoee Inn three hours later; Zora had booked a cabin for us online. The "Inn" was really a white water rafting retreat that boarded the National forest where the others were. We were one of only three cabins booked for the week and we could easily slip into the forest without anyone noticing.

"Ok now that we're here can I go see mom now?" I ask because I have no clue where they are, just that they are in the forest.

"Umm, well Dermott and Huilen said we should wait to hear from them. They will call us to let us know when and where to meet up." Zora says in a nervous tone.

"What did Mom have to say about that?" I ask

"Nothing" Mumbles' Zora

"Nothing? Was she still upset when you left them?"

"I'm not sure Bella, she did not say a word the whole ride here, but I'm sure that's because she was still holding her breath. She nodded at Dermott when he was asking her questions."

"Well, let's call them now to check in, they can just let us know that she's ok then we will do whatever." Nate had been adamant that I not call earlier, saying they had their hands full, but I really just wanted someone to tell me it was ok.

"I left them a message just before you two got here, they'll call back later I'm sure. Try not to worry, I know its hard but Dermott will help her he was telling her about singers on the car ride down here. It wasn't her fault – they just have to get her to understand that." Zora said soothingly as she wrapped her arms around me, she was hugging me but also wanted to hold onto me in case I made a run for it.

So we waited. They did not call before midnight and we had no missed calls in the morning ether. The wait was driving me crazy and I was driving my siblings crazy in the process.

**_R –P.O.V._**

I haven't said a word but at least I'm breathing again. I can't get the smell out of my mind, every time I think of it my thirst rages a thousand times worse than when I first woke as a vampire.

I try to focus on what Dermott is saying to block the thoughts of running back to that hotel, finding that scent and then drinking every last drop. He keeps telling me that the smell was that of "my singer", like the boy from his family that he killed back in Scotland.

My Singer, the one human who scent was designed just to tempt me, she smelled no different to the rest of them. Her blood calls for me, it's been hours I think it near morning, but I can't seem to focus. The smell keeps evading my mind; I want nothing more than to go back in time and never come across that scent.

I had been distracted all day; a strange bad sensation had followed me all day, making me feel like I could vomit. It was so distracting, I just wanted to hurry get to the concert, every time I thought about the concert the feeling would die down.

Why me? Dermott had two hundred years of experience when he found his singer, I have only had almost thirteen and a half months, fifty-seven weeks, and today is day four hundred of this new life. Huilen has never found her singer, lucky girl, she would not be sounding so sure that I won't run back to Nashville if she had.

They keep saying I will never have to smell her again, but it doesn't matter, I remember. The memory is bad enough to make me wish I came across her when I was on my own, but then how could I look at my family let alone Bella. I think of the disappointment I will see in her eyes, after seeing me so lost to the bloodlust. Huilen says that the hybrids don't really understand our bloodlust, from what Nate told her they have a watered down version, so Bella would never understand.

My mind drifts try to find her face in the memory of my struggle in the hotel, but that only brings the burn back as that damn smell crashes over me in my mind. I am fighting so hard not to run back, I can't, I won't. I have just started to feel like I belong with my family again, I let them down after the way I behave when we were with the Amazon's and first came to the states.

Huilen begs "Please Renée you will feel better after you have hunted." I snap that's the sixty-fourth time she has said that.

"I can't" I grit out between clenched teeth.

"I'm sure it will help Renée you have to try." Dermott pushed further, helping me to lose what little control I had.

"God Damn it, Dermott you killed your singer. Huilen you can sympathize but you have no clue what I am going through. If I move anymore than to speak, I WILL RUN BACK and KILL HER! So, no hunting right now will not make me feel better, I will hunt down that smell, if I move." I say with my jam tight.

"OK well, how about we call the others, I'm sure they are up by now, Nahuel can bring you something. ." Huilen tries but I cut in.

"No, I don't want to see them."

"Why not Renée? They can help, they want to help, I'm sure they are going crazy by now they have, Bella hasn't heard from you since we left the hotel." Huilen replies in a soothing voice.

I don't answer, I'm not sure I can find the words.

"Alright, if you have nothing to say I'm going to call them, Nahuel can bring you something then you can send him away if that's what you want." Dermott says.

"NO, I don't want them here, they don't understand, none of you really do. I can't get it out of my head the only thing I want is to go back and kill her!" I sob out, while still doing everything in my power to keep from running towards the smell that won't leave my mind.

Huilen hugs me and rubs my back, I'm sure it's meant to be comforting but I am beyond comfort. Time passes, they sun is higher in the sky, still in my mind I can only smell her.

"Think about Bella, I know you love. ." Dermott starts

"That's why I don't want her to see me like this, we are back to normal now, I don't want them to hate me for this. . "I cry.

"Let me talk, think about Bella how much you love her and now think about someone killing her, taking her away from our family, how would you feel? How would we all feel?"

"Why would you even say something like?" I growl at Dermott

"Shut up and do it I am helping you!"

So I try, we would never get over the loss of Bella, she's my daughter; I love her more than anything in the world. Nate would be devastated, he saved us once and to have her taken away now would kill him. None of us would ever be the same without her.

"Good I can see it in your eyes, you know that to lose her would be break the heart of our family, to lose any of us would. Now, think of that scent, feel the burn you want it right? "

This is so wrong, him making me think about that smell I want it, I can go back and get it. When they leave me alone finally I can just go back.

"Good you're feeling half crazed. _(Snort)_ Now remember Bella how we would all feel without her, that smell is someone's Bella. She is someone's daughter; friend and sister, if you go back for that scent you would be destroying someone's family. It's not just the girl, she has a family and people who love her just like you love Bella."

The smell fads some, as I think of the pain I would feel with her missing from my life. Then I think about each person in my family, how could we deal with the loss. I know that we can't. If I go back for the smell, I will do that to someone's family. Now I just want them all here where I can see them.

"Ok have them come, but just Nate until I hunt. Thank you, that was the best thing you could have said to me." I look up at him and try to smile, I'm sure I failed but he understands.

Thirty-six minutes later I could hear Nate's approach, with two additional heartbeats. He literally put the first one in my lap. The blood smelled nothing like the blood I was craving, as I drank what had to be the worst substitute I thought of the girl and her family. The second deer was much easier to drink. I went to a nearby stream to clean up a bit.

For the next four days I stayed in the woods, my family tried to get me to come back to the cabin with them but I was determined not to go. It wasn't that I feared going after the girl from the hotel anymore, I just need time to think.

Bella had been the one who eased my guilt the most, she told me that even if had "slipped", that she knew I would never do anything to hurt someone intentionally. That was true, but this whole mess would not have happened if I weren't a vampire. If I had died giving birth there would be no slips, there would be no me, no chances taken where I would cause death.

At the time it seemed so easy, become a vampire and live on. When Nate told me they did not kill humans, I thought well I could do that. I never took the time to fully think about it, not that after days of thinking about it now my choice would be any different. But it proved the point the others had tried to make in the past I never thought things through I just acted.

I asked my family about my behavior lately, trying to prove to myself that I was getting better about thinking things through. They all said that I have been a lot better since my big apology, at the start of our trip. Still I never had considered that I would "slip" and kill a human. Bella keeps reminding me that I did not slip, but it feels like I did and I would have if not for my family holding me back.

I am pulled from my thoughts by Bella approaching; I hear the beat of her heart and a few dried leaves hitting the ground. She is in the trees, her preferred way of travel. I must admit it is fun to travel that way but it takes more concentration than running. She drop out of a tree thirty feet or so from where I'm sitting.

"Still at it hum?" she asks with a smile.

"Yup, listening to the family helps. I think of the smell, then try to imagine this perfect young family without one of their children." Its all I have done for the past two days, sitting watching, listening to them interact with each other driving Dermott's words into brain.

"I'm glad it helps, could you tell me about that day?" she sounds hesitant because she asked me to do so before and I told her not yet.

"Sure baby. Sorry I didn't me. . ." I start with apologies, but she flops down next to me and says.

"I don't mind it sometimes, like that was ok because you didn't mean it like I'm just a kid. As long as it's not all the time it's ok. So tell me about that day."

"I could smell hints of her in the hotel but it was old and mixed with the other scents. I can't find words to describe it really, my thirst was out of control, and I couldn't. . " I trail off too embarrassed to try to explain how nothing mattered at the time but getting that blood.

"It's alright mom, that's not really what I wanted to hear about anyway. I meant how were you feeling that day, a few times earlier in the day you had an odd look on your face. It looked like something was bothering you before that happened."

So I try to tell her without worrying her about how I just did not feel right. It's hard to explain to her because she's never been ill; I only have fuzzy memories of it myself. Every time I thought of the hotel I felt bad, but if I thought of the concert I would feel better, her eyes go wide, and I can see the questions in them. I giggle a bit trying to make light of it; I don't want her to worry.

"Strange stuff, I mean vampires can't get sick or anything, so it's not concerned about it."

"I know we don't get sick but have you ever felt like that before?" She asks softly

"Sure I have but it always passes, it's nothing to worry about, I promise I'm ok."

"So when do you feel like that is there a pattern or anything, you said that when you thought about the concert it went away, right, but what helped the other times?"

So I tell her about the other times it has happened, and how I got rid of the feeling. We go back and forth, round and round, for almost an hour.

"Bella I'm not sick, it's not a big deal, I don't want to talk about it any more, OK I'm fine"

"I know you're fine, it's not that. I found a pattern, when you or we make a bad choice you get a bad feeling, when it's a choice you have a good feeling."

"That makes no sense Bella, vampires don't have gut feelings, and Derm or Huilen would have told me." I roll my eyes at her

"I know that Mother, what I'm saying is that YOU do, not all vampires." She says in a playfully sarcastic tone in response to my eye roll. I open my mouth to protest but she starts up before I can. "Just think it about, your right if it was normal to feel this way Dermott or Huilen would have told you, so it' not normal then it's something different that most vampires can't do, it's a power or gift. You just have to try to use it rather that pushing it away!"

"Bella I don't have a.."

"Come on just try it with me, please humor me for a bit then you can decide for yourself." She begs

"Fine, but I'm just humoring you. I don't think for one-second I have a gift."

"OK-OK Humm, I'll start with a bad choice that we know is bad then you tell me how you feel – not what you personally think but how you feel" I just nod, going along with whatever she says. "Alright, Mom I think we should go back to Nashville, you're strong enough to deal with it." She says firmly

"The knot got tight in my stomach, before you even finished, I dread the thought of going back to that hotel. That's what I feel dread!" I state and she just nods.

"We won't go back to Nashville for at least fifty years."

"It's gone, now I feel good, a bit different from normal but good."

We do this for the next half hour and I almost believe her that I may have power but I don't remember feeling like this we I first woke up from the change and Bella had her power right away so shouldn't I too. When I ask she says that we should go to the cabin and tell Dermott, I get a _very good feeling_ about that, so that's what we do.

When we arrive I ask Dermott if I can speak with him in private and everyone but Bella heads into town. Then Bella tells him what I have been _feeling_, and what she thinks it means. Dermott then goes though his own choices, and I tell him about the feelings that accompany them.

"I think after we visit with the Irish's we should go on a Tour of Europe just like we did here in the US." He states, I wait but I get nothing, so I shrug.

"I get nothing from that choice, not even a little bad or good. See it's not real, I don't have a power." I say, I hope it's true if these feelings are a power, then I had been making many bad choices until recently.

"No, I already thought of that, I think that something like that is too big. I think we should go to England after the Ireland." Bella states, and just like that the _feelings_ come back. It's an OK feeling, nothing major but I still _feel _it.

I explain how it feels and now Dermott is sure that Bella's right.

"If it's really a power how come I did not notice it at first, Bella's shield work right from the beginning?" I ask

"Well, I have two theories on that, one it was working but no one made any bad choices. I mean all we did was hang around the house and hunt not much could go wrong, so everything we did felt good, you wouldn't notice that because you were too distracted at the time. The other option is that many powers take time to develop; they aren't all present when someone is first changed. I am leaning towards the first, it explains a lot if you think about, you have always been self-centered but when we went to the Amazons and started making choices right and left, you had all these _feelings. _You did not know what they were, that made your temper and other emotions flare up." Dermott states confidently.

"I guess," I mutter.

"You should be happy about this Renée, you just have to learn to listen to it now. I'm not saying that it will always be perfect but you have an advantaged that most don't, you may not know why something is a bad choice but you know if it is. All you have to do is change your plans and till you get a good feeling, then go with it." Dermott says excitedly.

"I guess"

"Mom look at this way, you don't have to do anything with if you don't want but it will help us all from making big mistakes. Don't worry about the weak _feeling_ for now just focus on the strong ones. It's more like an intuition than anything no real reason why just an extra sense tell you if its good or bad to travel down that path" Bella adds comfortingly.

**_B – P.O.V._**

After our week in the cabin, things went back to normal quickly. Our trip resumed we enjoyed both South and North Carolina. Charleston was our favorite stop in South Carolina. My favorite spot in Charleston was the Unitarian Church and graveyard; the church was over three hundred years old and had recently been restored, while the graveyard was wild and overgrown. We found it while taking a walking ghost tour that mom want to go on.

Mom also had us stop at "South of the Boarder" it was a tacky Mexican styled rest stop, with giant statues that people took photo's with. I found it disturbing. However, Mom and Zora found it hysterical and posed for many photos riding a Jackalope.

Mom was getting more comfortable using her power, we would ask her small things, like did she have any feeling about hunting here or there. She had not stopped us from doing anything yet and had no bad feeling in the past two weeks. She had confessed one morning that she did not have a good feeling but it was not bad she did not know what to make of it. I checked and had a similar feeling, about the day we had planned. It ended up being no big deal, the sun came out when it shouldn't have and the vampires had to duck into a parking garage then Zora pulled the car around for them. Mom was much more confident after that, she started being able to see that it wasn't a big deal to use her intuition.

Mom had a great feeling about the spot we picked for hunting, we had just crossed into Virginia and were about twenty miles from the B&B we planed to stay at. We were in the Jefferson National forest; I had taken to the trees once we all split up. I was the only one heading south and I smelled a bobcat not far off. I was focusing on the hunt; I track the cat for about a mile before I dropped out of the trees to grab him.

I was almost to the ground when I was grabbed instead.

**_- Who or grabbed Bella?_**

**_- Should Nate find his mate sooner or later?_**

**_- Should it be a character in the books or should I make someone new?_**

_Let me know what you think, I have a few ideas already but would love some input!_

_Also check out my profile for a **poll**, charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

Not Betaed sorry for the mistakes they are my own.

**_12/29/12_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement inte_**


	19. What?

**_Chapter 19 – What?_**

**_G –P.O.V._**

I see a bobcat rush past the tree I'm leaning against, it's a welcome distraction from my thoughts. I can't understand why he is in such a hurry, the only other heartbeat in the area sounds like that of a smaller animal and he is running away from it. How odd.

I pay more attention to the second heartbeat, it in a tree and seems to be stalking the large bobcat. When I find to source of the heartbeat, I am completely confused, I grab the small girl from behind as she launches herself towards the bobcat. She turns in my arms, grabs hold of my shoulders and then uses both legs to kick out of my grasp. The amount force she uses propels her into the air and sends me staggering backwards a few steps. She lands gracefully on a tree branch twenty-three feet away from where I stand, in a defensive crouch, and then she hisses at me.

"What do you want?" the small girl growls at me, I can't help but double over in a fit of laughter. She stays in her defensive stance in the tree glaring down at me like that could save her from me should I attack.

"You should watch who you growl at little girl, I find you amusing but not many others of my kind would and you hiding in a tree can't save you from the likes of me." I snicker out.

"I know what you are vampire and I am not hiding in this tree nor do I need any help begin saved from the likes of you" she hisses at furiously. She is too cute, with her long brown hair; big oddly colored eyes and angry glare; she reminds of a kitten my sister had growing up.

"OK so you think if I wanted to hurt you, which I don't, you could stop me." I ask her, she nods once never taking eyes off me. I can't help but wonder what she is that she thinks she can defeat a vampire twice her size. Maybe she thinks she can stake me in the heart or something.

"Okay kitten show me what you got." She growls at the word kitten, and I 'm still laughing as I lunge towards her, I don't want to hurt her so I'm careful of my strength, but she dogged me at inhuman speed.

We circle each other, she so small I can't figure how to get to her as we dance around. I try a few more times but can't seem to get my hands on her, I'm starting to get pissed now there is no way, this child whatever she is, can best me. I lunge and get one hand on her wrist. She spins onto my back with my hand still around her wrist, she growls loudly right in my ear.

"Gotcha" then with enough force to face plant me on the forest floor she frees her hand, push-off my back with her feet and flips back into a tree. I roll over onto my back just in time to see her land on a branch still in her crouch. I burst out laughing once more it seems this child can get one over on me.

"What are you?" I ask still laying on the ground looking up at her in the tree. She cracks a smile.

"I can't tell you that." She answers in a singsong kind of way.

"Alright what are you doing out here? Why were you chasing that bobcat?" I'm not sure why she won't tell me what she is but really I don't care.

"Hunting, that was my diner you interrupted." I look at her in shock she was going to kill that bobcat for dinner.

"Um, it's been awhile but I don't think most people eat bobcats. I mean deer, sure they were always good hunting, but bobcat don't think I ever ate that when I ate anyway and shouldn't your parents me hunting for you or something you're a tiny thing, whatever you are. What should I call you anyhow, you didn't seem to like Kitten too much?"

"I'm Isabella, clearly I don't need someone else to hunt for me if I can take you down and I wasn't going to eat it I was going drink it. I'm not most people, meat taste gross, I only eat fruit and a few sweets." Then she rolls those big eyes at me, drink it and she eats, what the hell.

"You sure you can't tell me what you are? Cause I got say, I have never heard of anything other than a vampire drinking blood and seeing how you have a heartbeat I know your not vampire."

"That's all fine and good. . " She looks at me with a raised eyebrow, oh yeah my name I hop to my feet.

"I'm Garret, it's an honor to meet you Isabella." I hold my hand out to shake hers and she drops out of the tree.

"Pleasure's all mine, Garrett. As I was saying, I can't tell you want I am, just that there are others like me and we work hard to keep our secret from both the humans and vampires. My family and I want to avoid running into trouble of any kind." She states firmly, looking me straight in the eyes.

"I am amusing you are referring to the all powerful Volturi or as I call them the Italian scum, you have my word that I avoid them at all cost. I would never seek them out for any reason."

"What about other vampires, they can't know about my kind ether without the Volturi finds out eventually, I will only tell you more if you can promise never to mention my family and I to anyone." She is looking at me very intently; trying read my face and eyes hoping that I am truthful.

"I will never mention your name or existence to anyone. I swear to you, I'm a man of my word and your secret is safe with me." A breathtaking smile lights up her face at my words.

"Well then, it's like I said I still can't tell you what I am but I can tell you about me and my family."

She tells me that they have just relocated to the US for a family road trip, from the Amazon rain forest. She can eat human food but thinks it's mostly gross, she sleeps, she grows and very quickly. She speaks six languages fluently and is now working on Dutch. She likes to read. She finds it difficult to act like humans her age, while the rest of her family was very happy to get back to the human world she wished they could just go home. She is just rambling on like she has never gotten to tell her story; she jumps from topic to topic. They all drink animal blood, which stops me I have to ask.

"So, this family of yours, are they all like you?" I ask because I only know one vampire crazy enough to do the things she speaks of and she seems to know a lot about vampires.

"No" is her simple answer and I can tell she doesn't like the topic I have picked.

"Are some of them Vampires?" I get a hard look for that.

"Yes." She looks suspicious.

"The Cullen's, are they your family by any chance?" I feel a bit hopeful that she is with him; I haven't seen him in years.

"No sorry, that's not my family but I have heard he's a doctor that practices on humans, have you met him? I would love to but like I said we work hard to keep the secret, we won't ever seek out anyone." Her phone rings out loudly in the quiet. She mumbles under her breath so softly I can't hear.

"Um would like to meet them, the others I mean?" Isabella asks while looking down at the ringing phone that is now in her tiny hand. I just nod; she smiles brightly then tells me to wait here.

Her phone continues to ring as she runs out of my hearing range. I like that small child no matter what she is, although the curiosity is killing me. I wonder if the others will tell me, she never said how many more are like her out there. It must be a small number to be so well hidden that not even the Volturi knows that or they are young like Isabella. She never told me how old she is but as intelligent as she is you could tell she lacks life experiences. She has many vampire quality's strength, speed, her skin seems hard like mine but she eats, sleeps, but she has a heartbeat and her skin is so warm, like a sick human almost. I hear her coming back and still have no idea what she is.

"Sorry about that, I just wanted to give them some warning before I showed up with you. Um, you can follow me they said they would met us in the woods near the B&B we are staying at for the evening." Then she runs off, they are staying in a B&B they must really take this playing human thing seriously or maybe it's so she can sleep.

**_N-P.O.V_**

Isa was ten minutes late and Renée was freaking out. We all keep telling her that we were sure that Isa was alright, but there was no convincing her. I knew for sure that she was safe; with her shields no one could hurt her. I kept asking Renée if her _feeling _had changed, she was so sure that this was the perfect place to hunt, but now she doubted her power. She still had a great feeling, but was scared for Isa. We all understood that.

She decided to call Isa' phone, I'm sure it is the first time she has made a call since her change. We all carry phones now that we are in the U.S. but never use them. Isa' did not answer until the fifth ring.

"Bella, are there, where are you, are you ok?" Renée asks frantically.

"Hey, um I'm ok but I meet someone. Garrett he's a vampire. Ah, he doesn't know what I am but he knows you and some of the others are vampires. You guys will like him; he knows that we won't tell him about what we are. I don't think that I should call you mom in front of him that may give away too much."

We were all shocked by Isa' words. Renée was speechless. So Dermott pried the phone from her hands, so that he could talk to her.

"Are you sure your safe Bella? We can come get you; I really don't like you being with him alone. "

"No, I can meet you guys at the B&B, Garrett and I will run. Oh, he knows Carlisle, he was actually hoping I was traveling with him, when I told him we all live off animals. I'm safe, I promise, he wants to meet you guys and well I think moms good _feelings_ are from my meeting Garrett. Try to calm mom down for me and we will meet you guys in the woods behind the B&B, it will be ok I'm sure of it. Just remind mom to trust her intuition."

We can all hear both sides of the conversation, so Dermott eyes Renée who just gives a shaky nod, letting us all know that her _feelings_ are still positive.

"Ok, Bella we will see you shortly." Then he hung up; he looks to Zora and me.

"Alright let's go, Zora I want you in the car with me. I want you to track Bella's GPS on her phone, just in case. Renée is your intuition telling you that we should be worried?" she just shook her head no.

"Well, then I say we trust your intuition and Bella a bit longer till we meet this Garrett. Let's get moving so we can beat them there." Dermott ordered, we all rushed the cars and raced towards the B&B.

We had only been waiting two minutes, when we heard their approach, Isa was giggling at something Garrett said. That alone was enough to make most of us relax

"Hi, guys this is Garrett. Garrett this is my family, Renée, Dermott, Huilen, Nahuel and Aurora." She said with a big smile and pointed each of us out to him.

"I very nice to meet you, Isabella had wonderful things to say about all of you. She also has stressed that I must for safety reasons keep your family's existence secret, I want you to know that I would never share your secret." He looked Dermott in the eye while saying the last part, Dermott glance towards Renée who nodded slightly.

"It's nice to meet you as well Garrett." Dermott offered Garrett his hand to shake.

"Ok so I know that you all won't share much about Isabella and the others like her but I gotta ask you all really survive off animal blood, like Carlisle?"

Just like that we were deep in conversation, Huilen told our story first leaving me out of it completely. When she told Garrett she had slaughtered her friends and family when she awoke as a vampire, he blanched but was quick to say that is was just vampire nature. Then told him about defending me, accidentally killing a gator spilling its blood, which lead her to our life style. Dermott explained that he was already committed to our lifestyle when we meet him, but was having difficulties with it after living on humans for almost four hundred years. He explained that like many moral vampires he had previously only feed on the very old or sick until he came across his singer.

"I still don't really understand why you don't want to drink from humans?" Garrett asked it was such an odd idea to someone like him, he was alone and remember very little of his human life.

Renée tried to explain that she was given the option of death or becoming a vampire and had no intention of be changed until she heard that she could live without taking life. She did not want to be a monster; Garrett answer was just because we feed off animals doesn't mean that we weren't monsters. I heard Isa huff.

"What Kitten, you have something to add, you're not even a vampire?" Garrett asked with a smirk. Isa rolled her eyes at him but replied in an indulgent tone.

"Do I need to tell them what happened last time you called me Kitten?" She smirked right back and cocked her head to the side.

"No, think they can live without that story, Miss Isabella."

"Alright then, who's your favorite person in the world?"

"Well me of course! Although you maybe a close second." Garrett said sarcastically.

"Smart-alec, think about your human family, did you have a brother and sister or was it just your parents and you? Now take the best memory you have and take away your favorite family member in that memory. That's why we don't feed on humans; every person has a family that loves them. You don't just kill someone, you change the lives of everyone they know when you take a life. None of us have to be monsters because of what we are there are, humans can be monsters too, they aren't all good so why would vampires have to be all bad." Isa says passionately, Garrett looks a bit saddened by what she said.

"Yeah, I guess." he muttered quietly.

"Hey, I'm not judging you, the other three vampires I know are human drinkers too and one of them is my best friend. You asked why, we aren't trying to make you change just understand where we are coming from." Isa stated while we all nodded in agreement.

"I never really looked at it that way, it's just what vampires do we kill humans." He said flatly

"And why would you, I mean both Huilen and Dermott killed people they were related to, it was a wake up call for them. Dermott says human blood is like a drug it keeps you hooked and it's hard to stop. Don't be hard on yourself, it not like you are running around killing children, wait you don't right?" Zora says the last part very sarcastically causing him to smile.

"No, you're right definitely no children, I have never killed anyone that I regretted but after Isabella's speech about the family's in makes you think a bit more about. Carlisle always just said all life is scared and all that. His father was a minister, so I always thought he was punishing himself by feeding on animals. I never looked at the whole picture before." Garrett said.

The conversation then turned in light direction, discussing place that we had traveled to and why we live amongst the humans. Isa excused herself to get some sleep; Zora and I went with her back to the B&B.

The next morning Garrett stayed true to his word, never asking about what we were, how we came to be. He did ask questions about old were, how often we feed on human food and blood, as well as things about our biology. Did we have to breath, what happens if we don't feed, thing of that nature. His inquisitive nature was another reason he and Isa got along so well. He noted many of our vampire qualities but never said a word about what he thought we might be. It became clear with his questions that he was concerned for our safety.

In return we learn about Garrett, he was born in the mid seventeen hundreds. He remembers being a hotheaded patriot and joining the Revolutionary War to fight for the rights of the colonies to be self governed. An unknown vampire transformed him in the aftermath of a battle; he believes it was accidental like Dermott's change. When he awoke he was alone and unaware of what he became. After his initial bloodlust he had always fed from the dregs of society.

He told the story of the few vampires he considers to be his friends, never giving names or any real personal information about them. When Dermott questioned him why he stayed so vague, he explained that he and most of the others he knew did not trust the Volturi. While he agreed with the laws that were in place, he did not agree with the way they enforced the laws. He knew of someone with a power similar to Maggie from the Irish coven that was with him at the time and confirmed the stories of entrapment, false acquisitions, and manipulation, to be truthful.

Garrett told us of a well-hidden secret weapon of the Volturi Chelsea. She has played a pivotal role within the coven from the early days, she has the power to weaken or strengthen emotional ties. She keeps all the members of the guard bound to their masters and helps by weakening the bonds of those Aro wishes to join the Guard. Garrett believes that many of the guard would leave if not for the falsified loyalties, and consider them almost as hostages.

"Then, why would they let anyone leave? I have heard of a few members that were able to level and they invited me to join them but allowed me to leave in peace." Dermott asked, we all had been listing intently to Garrett speak his peace about the Volturi.

"It's my understanding that Chelsea can not manipulate mating bonds. All of those who I have heard of leaving left for their mates, if they returned to the castle without their mate Chelsea would be unable to tie them to the Volturi. I'm not sure why you were allowed to level, I would guess it's because you don't have a power. I have been told that the only ungifted members are mates." Garrett answered plainly.

"Then why invite me at all? If what you say is true."

"I not sure, maybe they genuinely enjoyed your company. All I know is that they hide the fact from most of their own that they have powers at work to keep them all there." Garrett stated we could all see that Dermott was lost in thought.

"If you think about her power is the most useful to the coven as a whole and more dangerous to the rest of us. She can make it so that anyone would join them; remember what you said about Demetri, Dermott. He misses his marker but won't leave. I wonder if that's how they all feel? If so, they really are prisoners." Isa commented, but none us had in us to reply.

We all knew the Volturi was dangerous to us, but now understand that they were also corrupt. It left us all feeling very unsettled.

Garrett traveled with us for the next three weeks, through Virginia, D.C., Maryland and most of Pennsylvania. During that time he had hunted an animal every day, sometimes when his thirst truly bothers him he would hunt twice a day.

We all got along well with Garrett; he was somewhat a jack-of-all-trades and made an interesting travel companion. He was easy-going and fun like Renee and Zora, yet also spent many hours debating historical facts with Dermott and I. Isa and Garrett were thick as thieves, he was constantly teasing her and she would give it back in spades. Garrett brought out the kid in her more than any of us.

Huilen seemed slightly quiet around him but assured me it was nothing to do with him, she was just enjoying the shift in our family dynamic. It wasn't until she made that comment that I realized how well he fit in with us, he was acting like a big brother to Isa, Zora and I. It made me hope in vain that he would stay with us, on a permanent basis.

We saw all the typical tourist spots; we also went to some crazy places at the encouragement of Garrett, Zora and Renée. They found a website called Atlas Obscura, which is dedicated to fining the worlds most curious places. The website leads us to the Presidential Pet Museum, Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, Elijah Bond's Ouija Board grave stone, The Museum of Unnatural history and a house in the shape of a shoe, they were ridiculously silly places to see.

Atlas Obscura also sent us to Philadelphia's Magic Gardens. Which was an amazing indoor, outdoor mosaic cover about half a city block. Isaiah Zagar, a local artist began tiling the area in the 1960s and never stopped. It was amazing; every square inch was made from concrete, bicycle wheels, glass bottles, and ceramics' of all kinds, from plates to mugs and knickknacks.

Garrett had plans to meet up with some other nomads at the start of every year, as we left the Philadelphia area it was time to say our goodbyes to Garrett. He made Isa promise to email him every two weeks with trip updates; bought a smart phone of his own just to keep in contact with us. Although we would not be together it was good to know that we would not lose contact. Garrett also said that maybe he would come with us to Europe at the end of our U.S. road trip, he would see us now matter what before we leave the states and hope he would have golden eyes by then.

_A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!_

_Who should be Nate's mate? So far I have gotten. . ._

_- Bree_

_- Tanya_

_- Leah_

_They are in the order of most popular picks, so far Bree is in the lead, Please send review with your choice or go to my poll & let me know!_

_* Check out the website for Atlas Obscura it's really is cool*_

_Also check out my profile for a poll, charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_12/30/12_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	20. peace and mostly quiet

_**Chapter 20 – peace and mostly quiet**_

_**B-P.O.V.**_

We arrived in New York a few days earlier than expected, so we ended up booking rooms at the Bedford Post B&B, which was an hour drive from Manhattan. It was more of a resort than a B&B, with three restaurants and a yoga studio on site. The receptionist was overly friendly; she flirted and batted her eyelashes at both Dermott and Nate. Causing Huilen to snicker at her behavior and Nate actually blushed, when she practically shoved her breast in his face.

Zora and I teased him about it softly so she could not hear us, while she showed us to our rooms. When she left she gave him her phone number saying he could 'call day or night if there was anything she could do to make his stay more enjoyable', the second the door closed Zora broke down laughing, as she clutched her stomach with tears running down her face. Nate was beet red and settled between glaring at the two of us and looking down at his shoes in embarrassment.

The next morning we got up extra early to head into the city hoping to beat rush hour traffic, it was no use but we tried.

The first day we walk all over Manhattan we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dakota Apartments, Chrysler Building, Empire State Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral and Union Square. Throughout the day we smelled several different vampire scents, none were too fresh but it was unnerving to smell them all the same. I kept everyone wrapped up in my shield all day. I never expanded it further for fear I would pick up a new unknown power or I would realize how close we were to another vampire.

Even with the added stress of knowing that we weren't the only vampires around the day, it was still a lot of fun. I was getting use large cities, but still New York was nothing but concrete and pavement wrapped around Central Park. I was glad that we would never live in someplace like this.

On the car ride back to Bedford Dermott asked mom what was wrong, she had been noticeably withdrawn and seemed stressed throughout the entire day.

"My power was sorta on the Fritz or something, I'm not sure how to describe it really, when we planned where to go next my _feelings_ just kept changing." Mom muttered

I had not used her power at all after we left for the city; I did a quick check in the morning then left it wrapped up.

"Were any of them really bad _feelings_?" Dermott asked

"No, I would have told you about that, it was just back and forth between good, fine and kinda bad, like when we got trapped by the sun. Nothing to major, it was just distracting more than anything." She tried to explain.

"It could because of all those other vampire scent's or maybe it's just the large number of people in the city that made it hard." Huilen said whilst Dermott nodded in agreement.

"Why would the vampire scents change anything?" Mom asked sounding worried and slightly agitated.

"I'm not sure really, but it could be that we were going to run into them, something like that or just that they were doing something and it could have affected us somehow." Dermott answered.

"I guess."

When we were back at the B&B, I told Nate about mom's intuitions acting up, he agreed with Dermott on how the choices of the unknown vampires must have affected mom's feelings. With this in mind, I told him that I planned on keeping mom's power on from now on when we ventured into the city, in the back of my mind I felt guilty because I did not trust her to ensure our safety.

The next three trips into the city were still fun even with mom's intuitions fluctuating in my mind. I could see how they distracted her, every time we would make a choice about something the _feelings _would change a few times before they seemed to settle. I wondered if she kept thinking over our choices after we made them and that was why it was driving her to distraction, when I tried reexamine our choices they did the same thing but mostly still settled on the same _feeling_.

By the end of the third day, Zora had replaced all of our clothing, it would barely be able to fit it all into our suite cases when we left. We had all decided to keep Christmas small since we were traveling and pulled names from a hat for our gift exchange (Kris Kringle)*. I got lucky and pulled Zora's name.

On the fourth day we split up to do our Christmas shopping. I had Nate shop with me in the Coach store; I got Zora a green puffy winter coat and a matching three piece, hat-glove-scarf set. It was harder to help Nate find something for my mom, we ended up getting her a necklace from Tiffany's, apparently it was a classic, but to me it was just a heavy chain with the store logo on a heart.

That afternoon when we all met, mom was considerably more distraught than the rest of us, when I asked what was wrong she stiffened saying we would talk later. We went off to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular show. The decorations were absolutely breathtaking and The Rockettes dancers were so talented. It was a very fun way to spend the evening.

However by the time we left mom's power was fluctuating wildly between feelings of indifference to near dread. She finally had enough and asked if we could leave. We followed her as she rushed at barely human pace to the cars and then fled the city at moms instance. While I didn't enjoy the fluctuating feeling, it sent mom tailspin. When the feelings settled it was always back to indifference, so I was not that worried, but she was and she got everyone worked up about it on the ride home.

In the hour and a half in took to get back out to Bedford, we had decided to stay until Christmas morning then fly out to Alaska after we opened presents. Mom was determined to get away from the city and the other vampires that had her on edge. She apologized over and over again about having to cut our stay in New York short and then for her need to travel to someplace remote.

When we finally arrived in Alaska mom feel like she could relax again. We spent four-days just being us; playing capture the flag, we made snowmen that were more ice sculptures than traditional snowmen and even race to the top of Mt McKinley, losing never felt so fun. I was happy to be in a place I could drop the pretenses and be myself and Mom loved relaxing by the fire in the cabin we rented.

It wasn't till the fifth day that I ran into a potential problem. It was the fresh scent of vampire, on reflex I cast my shield to see if they were close, but when I did I pick up his power and thoughts at the same time.

_**E – P.O.V.**_

Alice, Jasper and I had been hitting the ball around while waiting for the others to arrive. Carlisle was late coming from the hospital, so Esmé waited for him at the house. We were meeting Emmett and Rose at the field, as they had spent the afternoon 'hunting'.

Alice was suddenly pulled into a vision; _three nomads were coming our way._ The vision did not offer any real insight, only revealing how they simply heard us and decided to check it out. Three pairs of feet arrived less than a minute later.

After introductions were made, we asked them to refrain from hunting in the area and explained our life style. Both James and Victoria seemed appalled at the thought. Laurent was genuinely interested in our ability to stay in one area for so long, while the thought of animal blood did not sound appealing to him. He was considering the pros and cons as Alice explained further.

I listened as Victoria became more and more distracted; she felt the need to flee. James became more focused on Alice, although he was not listing to what she was saying. He way cataloging Alice's appearance and scent very carefully, then in a fraction of a second, he recalled her as a human.

_He had tried to hunt her; Alice was in a mental asylum when James caught her scent, he tried a few times to get to her but was always chased off by a vampire with golden eyes. During one of his attempts he made it into the hospital before the other vampire realized, he almost had her but then the golden eyed vampire fled the hospital with Alice, biting her ultimately initiating the change- while he ran. James was so enraged that **his** prey had escaped him that he attacked Golden Eyes in fury; they fought and chased each for hours before James was able to kill him. When he returned to Alice she was well into her change, leaving her blood corrupted and scent less desirable. With a promise to himself that he would find her and hunt her again after she passed her newborn years, he left her to wither in pain._

As he finished the memory Alice stiffened as she was pulled into a vision of James attacking her, it was a split second decision we had almost no warning. It happened so fast, James launched himself at Alice, a fraction of a second later, Victoria went to Jasper before he was able to get a hold of James and I went after Laurent. Laurent's mind tried to focus on the fight but was too busy berating himself, for knowing that traveling with James and Victoria was a bad idea but doing so anyway to avoid being James' prey. He hated the games they played.

A loud vicious growl from Jasper alerted my attention, he had just knocked James further away from Alice. With the help of her visions she defended herself well but was making no progress in going offensive to stop the attacks. When Jasper left his fight with Victoria to protect his mate, both nomads were monetarily free. Victoria yelled out "now or never, James", as she turned around to flee, followed shortly by James with Alice and Jasper on his trail.

The rest of my family entered the clearing just as Alice and Jasper left. I was still holding onto Laurent who was begging both in his mind and out loud for us not to kill him, as I explained to my family what had happened. I left out Alice's more personal information just saying that James hunted her as human and killed her creator.

Laurent spoke up that James was a tracker and Victoria had the gift of evasion. He had heard James speak of Alice saying she was the only one who ever got away, but he would find her one day. It was just dumb luck that they heard us playing baseball, but he was sure that Alice and Jasper would return empty-handed, just as he was sure that our family had not heard the last of James and Victoria. He begged for his life saying that he was interested in the way we live and that if we freed him we would never see him again, while I could confirm his thoughts I still did not want to set him free.

Emmett, Rose and my protests went unheard. Carlisle and Esmé being two of the most compassionate people I have ever known vampire or otherwise, sent Laurent to Alaska to meet our friends in Denali. Laurent left before Jasper or Alice returned, from Carlisle thoughts he knew Jasper would never let him leave if he was present.

That was three and a half months ago, and I can say with total honesty this is the first time I have been alone since. Carlisle and Jasper had insisted that we never be alone, safety in numbers they reasoned. We now did everything in groups of two or more, none of us were ever on our own; we even took turns guarding the hospital when Carlisle worked.

It was taking a toll on me, the others very rarely spent actual time alone, they have mates. The others were used to the constant closeness, togetherness and they were always together anyway, things only changed slightly for them. I on the other hand have always had a need to get away, to find an escape from the mental voices. Needing to put at least three-miles, between myself and anyone else to get peace.

Laurent was right we have seen James and Victoria in the area several times after our first meeting, at least once every few weeks we would chase them off. They always take to the water so we can't follow their trail; even the wolves have also come across them.

The Wolves made contact with us a month after our first meeting with the nomads demanding to know why James and Victory were in the area. It was one of the few times Carlisle lied outright to them, saying we had no idea.

We had discussed leaving Forks but knew James would follow us anywhere we went, at least with the wolves helping to protect the territory we hoped for less human lives to be taken. However, we were now reconsidering leaving because with the increased vampire activity, more wolves transforming, if we weren't careful, they would out number us soon.

Carlisle and Jasper both wanted to go to Denali for our two-week winter break so that they may speak more with Laurent about James' hunting habits and Victoria's gift for escape. So the family packed and headed up to join our cousins in Alaska. Laurent gave us general details on what he knew but was exceedingly careful with his thoughts and emotions but Jasper had been able to pick up on his high anxiety level.

After a week of observing him, I told my family and our extended family that I thought he was hiding something from us. Which lead to many arguments. Irina was convinced that Laurent was her mate and would never do such a thing, while the rest of the Denali's family was still suspicious of him, they believed me but wanted to believe him as well for Irina's sake. They went back and forth bickering for hours before Laurent's thought slipped to a recent conversation he had with James.

James and Victoria tracked him up to Denali a month ago demanding that he share whatever information he could about our family or they would kill Irina. So he told them everything he knew about our powers and the treaty with the wolves. As I revealed his thoughts chaos erupted and I took my chance to leave, as Alice was bombarded with visions of different people attacking Laurent.

I know that my family will be disappointed when they notice my absence, but I just needed an hour or so of peace. I could not take their constant stream of chaotic thoughts anymore. Between my family's memories of their significant other's more private moments over the past months and Tanya's constant need to project "what I'm missing", I hated my gift more than ever.

I have never longed for what _Tanya_ has been offering, but being around my family constantly had me longing for my own mate. I wanted someone to share my existence and experiences with, someone to be my other half.

Esme's mind wanders sometimes when she sees my loneliness, she thinks that perhaps I was changed too early, but is hopeful to prove herself wrong. She and Carlisle are the only ones, who completely understand why I still turn down Tanya; my siblings think if I would 'give her a try', I could be happy. They know she is not my mate from their thoughts. But their confusion and teasing me about her when we come to visit our extended family is almost as disturbing as hearing Tanya's x-rated mind.

Now I walk slowly trying to clear my mind, I let go of my thought as well as everyone else's. I focus on the view of the river as I walk at human pace along the base of mount McKinley. I listen only to the rushing water and the sound of the frozen ground under my feet. I had almost entered a meditative state – my sanctuary providing peace and quiet when new thoughts invade my mind. I growl in frustration trying desperately to push them away.

"Are you sure this is where we are supposed to meet her? Is she late? Maybe we should call her…" A red haired girl says out loud but the thoughts running in her head contradict, _I have not smelled her since we split up, Renée is almost back to normal I don't want anything else freaking her out, great I lost my little sister_ I can't help but think it's such an odd thing for a human to think. But she looks human, her eyes are green and checks are flushed.

The boy with her looks to be my age he answers out loud, while is mind flips through images of a beautiful young girl with brown hair, different colored eyes- one green eye and one brown, "Zora you know Isa is happiest when she's free to be herself, I'm sure she just lost track of time, she is probably just having some fun, give her a few minutes then I'll call her" Then his head floods with images of a three or four year old child swinging from trees looking like a circus act, I freeze. That can't be a human child, then their minds go silent.

I move toward their general area, hoping to pick up their thoughts, but it was eerily silent like they vanished. I pace back and forth desperately trying to find a glimpse of their thoughts, the irony behind the situation did nothing to ease my anxiousness. After a full minute, I take off at full speed towards where I last heard them. I jump across the river to the spot I saw in the boy's mind and investigate the surroundings.

The area was perfumed by two unfamiliar scents, I immediately try to track the scents but they stopped at the edge of the river. Cursing my foolishness, and the familiar pattern of escape, I sped back towards the Denali's cabin.

I say nothing about the strange events that I witnessed today, until Alice asks me to go hunting with her. She tells the others that we need time to go over the visions she has had. Alice being Alice knew something had happened and led me to the exact spot where I lost the thoughts of 'Zora' and the unnamed boy.

"What happened right here?" she asks standing right where I was.

"I was listing in on a conversation, then their thoughts just vanished. Why? What did you see?"

"I saw you walking alone slowly, get frustrated probably because you heard them and were enjoying the peace, but you were right here then you were gone. I couldn't find you no matter how hard I looked, then about thirty seconds later you were back. But your future has changed drastically. Look I don't understand it but you'll see" She started showing me.

_I look happy, but I am in a home that I have never been to before with an odd blur next to. I am talking with Carlisle about someone named Joham_.

Several more odd visions of blur and me pass, I look happy in all of them but they are just short looks at events that include me talking with members of my family. Then a longer one comes, _we are all in formal dress, the Denali's and several other vampires are present and there are five other blurs in the vision but still one right next to me._ I don't understand any more than Alice about her odd visions. But as she went through the visions, her mind slipped for just a second

_He looks so happy; I wonder why I can't see her? I can't wait to meet her. . ._

_**HAPPY NEW YEAR!**_

_** Thanks for reading & please review!**_

_**Family we make reach 50 reviews thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, Holidai, eva wilson, Yulia.11.11, yuiop, Pongu, snowgoose, Firewings312, iluvMomiji, kestra17, marlijn, wootmoot, Joda-Eragonsson, Teisha here & Sakurako Nagasaki I really appreciate your continued support!**_

** This chapter was pre read by ****Pongu ;) thanks for all your help!**

_Also check out my profile for a poll, charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_1/1/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**

,


	21. stranger danger?

**_Chapter 21 - Stranger danger_**

**_B-P.O.V._**

Terrified that was the only way to explain how I felt.

When I heard Edwards mind realize I was not human I panicked and threw a shield around him. I sent Nate a text to meet me in a different area and take to the water because I found the scent of a vampire that was close to them.

Zora was a wreck by the time they got to me; she wanted to leave Alaska at once. It took both Nate and I to convince her that it was no big deal and probably just some nomad passing through the area. I hated lying to her, but what else could I do? We keep reminding her that Moms power would have let us know if we weren't safe, when she finally calmed we had to convince her not to tell the others. From her thoughts, I could see that she could tell I was not giving her the whole story and she was pissed, but she finally gave in. None of us would be mentioning the unknown vampire scent that I came across today.

Nate still had no clue what was going on or that I had a new power. He assumed that I was using Moms power to make the right choice. I was but that was not all that was going on.

I felt a need to make sure that Edward did not tell anyone else about what he saw in Nate's mind or if he had already told that they were not planning to run to the Volturi, with claims of an immortal child.

With no privacy it was difficult finding a way to tell Nate what happened, so I sent him an email while he sat on the other side of the room. It was straight to the point.

To: N-existance

From: Isa-B

Nate, I picked up a new power from the vamp we evaded; mind reading. The mind reader had already seen in your and Zora's minds, and knew that I was not a human child from the thoughts he had seen in your mind. We need to get close enough so I could read his mind and make sure that he will not go running to the Volturi. So far all the '_feelings'_ I had about this mess are ok.

Nate went pale as read my message, his mind blank for just a moment. Then he became stressed and scared just like me. I wrote a second email telling him everything I heard from Edwards mind. In hopes that he found comfort in the fact that it was Carlisle's Coven; I did. Edwards whole 'family' were animal drinkers that posed as high school students, a housewife and Carlisle was really a doctor. Clearly they were not looking for trouble and I hoped that they would not send any our way.

~*0*~

It was three days before Nate and I found a chance to get away from the rest of our family and try to spy on the vampires that lived on the other side of the of Denali National Park. Spying may have been too strong of a word; I was only eavesdropping on them using my new acquired power.

Edward's power is like being in the mall when we can hear everyone talking at once; we can focus and pay attention to what they are saying or just let it be background noise. I can see why he was so frustrated by being around his family constantly. I'm sure I would feel the same but like with mom's power of intuition; I could shut down the power when I didn't want to hear anyone's thoughts. I also found it cruel that sometimes his 'siblings' and 'cousins' pushed their X-rated thoughts at him to try to keep him out of their mind, surly they could have found a nicer method, it's not like he wants to hear their minds. At least that's how it seemed to me from Edward's thoughts.

We traveled in the trees so we could leave less of a trail and I had Nate wrapped in both of my shields so that none of the gifted vampires would sense him. As we crossed the three-mile mark my mind filled with the thoughts of twelve vampires.

Irina and Laurent were in a bedroom giving them the illusion of privacy; from their thought I could tell they were arguing again. She was now sure that he was not really her mate although she cares for him deeply. He has been aware that they are not mates from the start of the relationship and was using her as a way into the coven for protection more that anything. I hoped Edward was paying attention to Laurent's mind at the moment but I could not be sure it was still too hard to focus my mind on more than one person at a time without it all getting jumbled.

Kate's mind was busy picking out clothing to wear tonight, Tanya, Alice, Jasper, Rose, Emmett and her were planning to go to a dance club in Anchorage. Then she shifted to hoping to find some man to help her with her sexual needs; with a shutter I quickly tried to focus on someone else.

Unfortunately I slipped into Tanya's mind and that was far worse than Kate's. She was pushing her desires towards Edward forcefully, her thought were loud and very graphic. Yuck, no wonder he hates being around her.

I found the mind of someone reading, the mental voice was female, and she was completely engaged in her book, Sense and Sensibility. It seemed like a good story I only listened for a moment but I would be sure to read it myself later.

Then next mind I found was that of Jasper, he was sitting in the room with all the other Cullen's and a man named Eleazar. They were discussing the mated pair James and Victoria, possibly using an army of newborn's to attack them. Jasper mind was spinning with memories of his time spent in the South while he served in such an army. Alice's vision had him on edge; he had left that life behind and had no desire to deal with newborns of any kind.

"Alice what other information can you give about the army?" Carlisle asked, I easily recognized from Edwards mind.

"They have not yet begun to make any newborns, so the vision is very vague as I can only see that they will come for us with an army, nothing more sorry Carlisle. I'll keep looking but I won't see anything till they make more decisions." She replied.

I changed to listen to the thought of Carlisle, he was the leader of the coven, creator of most of them and I figured if Edward had mentioned my family or me to any of them it would be to him. The rest of the family continued to debate what to do next as I listened into Carlisles inner monologue. He wanted to protect his family but did not want to hunt down the pair as Jasper suggested, his mind was busy trying to find a peaceful resolution to the problem, while the others discussed ways of stopping the army.

"I don't think anything you say to them will stop this Carlisle. James thoughts were of nothing more than finishing what he started, Alice is the only one vampire or human that he has gone after and not killed, even that was a choice he made. He wanted to find her later in her second life to make it more of a challenge for him. The fact that he told Laurent about Alice only further proves his obsession with her, it's all just a game to him, he loves the chase and the fight, and you won't make him see reason." Edward stated in a soft voice.

It was the fist time any of the minds focused decisively on Edward and I finally got to see what he looked like. He has strange copper-colored hair that stuck out in all different directions; a strong jaw line and looked the same physical age as Zora maybe. I really don't know why but I was stunned by his appearance, he was very handsome more so than any vampire or human I had ever seen.

Carlisle mind seems resigned at Edwards words, he knew his 'first born' understood his views better than most and would not tell him that violence would be needed if it could be avoided. Still Carlisle hated the thought of taking a life of any kind, but was not willing to sacrifice his family to avoid it.

I then tried to listen carefully to Edwards mind, his focus was split; letting the thoughts of only those in the room with him wash over his mind and replaying the thoughts of Zora and Nate at the same time. From Zora's mind he watched Nate trying to see any detail that would aid him in discovering what I was, he compared everything to me. Nate's pulse versus mine, our skin tone, our eyes, even the color of our hair. Then he did the same with the image of Zora from Nate's mind, then came to the conclusion that Zora was really my sister, the green from our eyes was an exact match, however hers did not have the gold that he saw in mine. He also noted that all three of us had elevated heart rates in comparison to humans, but he still had no idea what we were.

He flashed to thoughts of immortal children but knew that was not what we were; he thought that my eyes held much more knowledge than a four-year-old human turned vampire. That alone would have made him believe I was not an immortal child even if he had not noticed our throbbing carotid arteries.

Then his mind found a flash of mom from Zora's mind, it was just her face looking stressed with her golden eyes looking pleadingly at Zora. He knew that she was a 'vegetarian' vampire, but not that she was my mother Zora called her Renée, and then called me her little sister. Oddly enough he hoped I was safe from the vampire in Zora's mind. It was ironic to me that I felt the need to make sure that he was not going to spread our secret and yet he worried about my safety.

He thought of looking for us in the spot by the river where he saw Zora and Nate, he looked at Alice and the focused on her mind. Its a vision showed of him not finding us but our empty cabin, and then some other vision of him and Dermott talking in our tree house started to fade to black. Alice glared at Edward and yelled to him from her mind.

_You can't look for them it is not one of your choices that will cause us meeting them, just leave it alone it will happen when it happens._

Edward changed his mind and then the vision of him, Dermott and some unknown blur became clear again. She smiled and went back to looking for James and Victoria.

I move into her mind trying to understand her power, it was a lot like Mom's based on choices and when the path changed so did her visions. I did not take her power but sorta thought maybe I should, Nate thought that I was already too dependent on Mom's power and that having visions would only stress me out more.

The only fault I could see in Alice's power was that she could not force it. If mom or I wanted to know if something was good or bad choice we only needed to think about it, then we got a _feeling_ along with it. Alice may know the repercussions of a bad choice but when she could not get a vision she was powerless.

"You could always tell the Volturi that James and Victoria are planning on making a newborn army." Eleazar stated.

The minds in the room went into overdrive and become harder for both Edward and me to block out.

_. . They may help us. ._

_I don't want them anywhere near my family, I don't care what Jasper and Carlisle say. ._

_It is their job to deal with this kind of thing_

_. . we can do this without them_

_The Cullen's and a few vampires in dark cloaks stand in the same field that they played baseball clearly after the fight; __there were small bon fires spread around the clearing._

_"We will come for you when it's time for you to repay your debts. However, Aro wishes to have you all visit him sooner than later, he is unsure why an army was created just to fight your coven and wants to see for himself." With that they turn and leave the clearing._

_ Once they are out of hearing range Edward tells them._

_"Aro expects us to come to him according to Jane's mind; he will be demanding that Alice and I stay with the guard for a period of time to pay our family's debt."_

Edward lets out a vicious snarl at the same time Alice hisses out "No we CANNOT involve the Volturi, they will force some of us to serve in the guard if we do."

The room erupts in chaos and the thought are now too much for my mind my to keep up with, but clearly they won't be contacting the Volturi for any reason now or in the future.

On our way back to the cabin I told Nate about almost everything I heard, but went into great detail about Alice's vision and the results. I also told him that Edward was sure that I was not an Immortal child, he thought that we were all the same but had no clue what that may be, Alice was only one whom he had spoken to about us and that he hoped I was safe with Renée around.

As we leap from tree to tree on our way back to the cabin, I was no longer terrified but saddened by leaving the Edward and the other Cullen's behind. I had made the choice to try to meet them but no matter how many ways I came up with to meet them I always got a bad _feeling, _so I held onto Alice's vision that showed we would meet the Cullen's at some point in the future.

**_N-P.O.V._**

Isa' mind reading power gave us a whole new way to communicate I signal her to read me then she would use Zafrina power to project her response to me. It was a relief not having to find time way from the rest of our family for our private talks anymore.

I also had her just project her mind into mine to mine sometimes, and then it was like I was a mind reader myself. While Isa' was uncomfortable listening in on people, I was not. I found it interesting to hear the thoughts around me, both from my family and the humans that interacted with us.

It has been six months since we left Alaska, and every day Isa still brings up the Cullen's at some point with our silent conversations; most of the time it was Edward she asked about, and then about two months ago I slipped and thought that maybe Edward is her mate while she was in my mind. Now she still asks about the Cullen's but never about Edward directly.

_Do I think the Newborn Army attacked them?_

_When do I think that we will meet them?_

_What was the blur in the vision that Alice showed Edward?_

_Why would they be talking about Joham?_

_Should she email Garrett so he would help them with the newborns?_

_How can she tell Garrett about the Cullen's without telling him everything?_

I could tell that she was truly worried for them; she almost has me persuaded to go spy on them again when we are in Washington. She wants to try to talk to them this time but the feelings she gets about meeting them still aren't great, not bad though. I keep telling her that we don't have to make up our minds yet because we still have least four or five weeks before we get to Washington anyway.

I never brought up the possibility of Edward being her mate again, but I think she must have asked Zora about mates. A few days after I let it slip Zora asked Dermott if he thought hybrids mated like vampires. That led to a rather lengthy family talk about mating.

"Do you think that as a hybrid we have vampire mates or humans? Maybe we don't get mates because we're all related and we can only mate with another hybrid?" Zora asked after hearing Dermott describe the mating connection he felt with Huilen.

"I doubt that you all don't have mates. I've heard of vampires mating with humans, they just end up changing them and I'm sure that would work for you all as well." Dermott answered.

"So you think we will have to change them? That doesn't seem right; I mean we're not even vampires ourselves it's not like we can change them into hybrids." Zora muttered in a disgruntle tone.

"That's not what I meant I was just saying that **if** you found your mate as a human we could change them so they can have immortality." Dermott answered.

"It still doesn't seem right; I don't think hybrids have mates. It seems to me if it were possible one of us would have by now."

"How would any of the others have had a chance to find a mate; they don't interact with humans or vampires really? Jennifer is the only one who sneaks into the cities sometimes for anything other than hunting. The only vampires they know other than Joham is Dermott and Huilen. They aren't allowed to meet anyone let alone find their mate." I said trying to reason with her.

"Well, I think the whole love at first sight thing would be fabulous, just imagine it Aurora, having someone totally devoted to you, never having to worry about the sorta things humans do, no cheating, no changing their minds and no worry over if they feel the same way; just pure, unconditional love." Renée sighed out in a dreamy fashion.

"Yeah if you say so, it's not like we will get a chance to meet any vampires, we live in hiding and I wouldn't want to change a human for a mate. You have even said yourself that you didn't really know what you were getting yourself into Renée, so how could they ever really understand what we would be offering?" Zora asked in a sad voice.

"For starters we would have more time to explain it to them; Renée was dying and was given a choice, a choice that she doesn't regret mind you. Besides when you meet your mate you will do anything for them and they you in return. If I had been human when I met Dermott I would have begged for him to change me. We can tell you about mating but until you feel it you just can't understand, it's not something that you can explain only feel." Huilen said passionately.

"Love will find you when you least expect it. I spent years living in Volterra, and you would think that with all the vampires I met while with them I would have found my mate then, instead I found her in the middle of the Amazon. It wasn't what I was looking for, but I found what I always needed the day I met her. I had never even given finding my mate much thought until I meet Huilen, but after I found her I knew I could never leave her side." Dermott says while smile down at Huilen, I see Zora roll her eyes.

"Yeah yeah, I hope it works like that for us hybrids as well but I'm not holding my breath." Zora says while rolling her eyes, and then she stood to leave sending Isa a strange look on her way out the door.

The conversation continues between Dermott, Huilen, Renée and I. Isa never said a word and looked embarrassed by the topic, I knew that Zora was still within hearing range, so I continue to talk about the possibilities of finding a mate in a positive light.

I think having a mate gives us a reason to live, but compared to the average vampire I have already served a purpose. For now I lived to protect my family and to try to find a way to stop Joham.

I had to hold back a snicker as we listened to Renée gush like a schoolgirl. Renée was in love with the idea of love just like when she was human, poor Isa was bright red by the time the conversation was over.

~*0*~

I focused solely on hunting as I left the campsite, just in case Isa was listening in. When I was sure that I was out of range I called Garrett. Finding him out in the wilderness around the Grand Canyon was proving more difficult than he or I thought it would be. The two of us went back and forth describing rock formations till we found each other. After we greeted each other he asked what was wrong with Zora and Isa.

"What do you mean?" I asked, as we walked at human pace towards the campsite.

"Well, they both seem a bit off from the emails I've been getting, I figured you would know what's bothering them." He answered with a shrug, I knew what was bothering them but did not expect him to notice how withdrawn they had both become lately.

"Umm, I think that Zora's done with all the traveling, she even said that she wanted to try high school when we get to Ireland and Isa is just stressed out and sick of playing human." Garrett raised an eyebrow at me and then shook his head.

"I can tell you know more, hell even I know it's more than that from the emails. Kitten's been sending short, straight to the point emails and Zora's been asking all kinds of deep questions, about the life, love and why she exists, it's like they switched places or something." He chuckled a bit.

"I'm not sure about Isa' short emails but Zora has been a bit lost ever since she brought up mates, she was wondering if we really have mate's because there are so few of us and none of us have found a mate yet. Dermott told her that he thinks we do but she didn't really believe him." It's so hard to talk about stuff like this without telling him what we are and that we are all related.

"I know how old you are but not her, how long has she been looking for this mate of hers anyway? I mean really, I'm pushing two hundred and haven't found my mate, I'm not worried, I'll find her or she'll find me at some point." He said with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"She's only eight, but I think it's not that she wants her mate now it's that none of us have found a mate, she and Renée had been on a romantic movie kick for a while. Then Isa started asking questions, I think she just has it in her head that we don't have mates the way vampires do." Isa had not let me read reads Zora's mind with Edwards power ever after that day and every time I try to talk to her about it she won't open up about it so I'm not really sure.

"Hell I don't know if you all have mates but if vampires do I don't see why whatever you are wouldn't, but I'm guessing that her point is that we don't know for sure."

"Yup and that's what's bothering her no proof that we do have mates. I don't think that she ever really worried about it until that day, now she can't stop herself from questioning it, and everything else from the sounds of your emails." He nodded and then we started talking about Isa and how she can't wait until she doesn't have to play human any more.

"I'm telling you something else is up with her too, the same week that Zora's emails changed so did hers. You don't think that she worked up about this mate business do you? I mean Zora's young but at least she's full-grown Bella's just a kid. She can't be having those sorta thoughts yet, right?" Garrett ranted. It made me smile because I know who ever mated with Zora or Isa was going to have hell to pay from Garrett, he was almost as protective as I was about them. I'll never tell him that I think Isa has already come across her mate.

Then my phone chimed with a text from Isa.

**N-Come back, Mom is on her way back with company, two vampires. She just called I can't read them yet, no bad _feelings_ but still . . . – I**

"Shit, we got to hurry that was Isa; Renée is bringing two vampires back to camp with her." I shouted at Garrett as I took off at full speed.

"Did she say who they are? I hope Renee's _feelings_ are right about them; too many leftovers down here from the Newborn wars."

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- Who do you think it is with Renee?

- Thanks for reading please let me know what you think!

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**Be sure to check out ****Pongu's new story Magik**

_Also check out my profile for a poll, charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_1/11/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	22. awkward at best

**_Chapter 22 - Awkward at best_**

**_D – P.O.V._**

It's only an hour before dawn, Huilen and I had been enjoying some hard to find alone time, then when I got a call from Renée.

"Hey Derm, just wanted to give you a heads up that we're on my way back to camp, I meet some new friends and they're coming with me." Renée sates like it's an everyday occurrence, bringing strangers around our family. I hear two extra set of feet running along with Renée, and say a silent prayer to any god that will listen that her power won't fail us now.

"As long as you _feel_ it's the right thing to do, we'll be waiting for you back at camp." I calmly answer her, while I'm feeling anything but.

"I do, we'll be back in about half an hour see you guys then." She quickly hangs up before I can say anything else.

Huilen was already dressed and holding my clothes out for me, I could tell she was furious. I dress quickly and grab her hand running off towards camp. I give her a few minutes to calm down before asking.

"I'm guessing from the look on your face she did not tell you she was planning to leave camp to-night." Huilen just growled in anger and ran that much faster; we are only about five minutes from camp when I try again.

"We have been telling her to trust her powers; we have to do the same." She then came to a screeching halt and glares up at me.

"My anger has nothing to do with trusting her power, she left them alone while they were asleep; all she had to do was call us and ask us to come back. Then to make matters worse what if we weren't close by and she beat us back to camp, bringing two unknown vampires with her." She snarled the last part and then turned on her heel, running off towards camp again.

This is a side of my lovely wife that I think only Nahuel and I have seen, the fierce protector. She only gets this way when Nahuel is at risk; she even came after me a few times when we first mated for a misplaced comment or two about him. She loves all of our family but the promise she made Pire while on her death-bed to keep Nahuel safe, will always make him her first priority in the face of danger.

I was only a few seconds behind her when she arrives at camp frantic because Nahuel is not here. Bella is texting him, while I try to call Renée to see if he was here when she left, it just keeps ringing, before going to voicemail. Huilen is pacing around camp muttering about both Renée and Nahuel under her breath.

"He is on his way back now. But he didn't say how long he would be." Bella tells Huilen quietly, while she and Aurora continue packing the camping gear.

"I'll call him myself, I want to know where he is we don't have time for all this nonsense the sun coming up soon." Huilen hisses at Bella in response.

She darts off into the darkness to speak with Nahuel, I'm sure he is going to get an earful, the thought of how their conversation will go makes me chuckle. When I laugh both girl's eyes snap in my direction but they don't stop packing, nether of them have seen Huilen upset like this before, I'm sure they don't want to be in her line of fire.

"Don't worry she'll be fine, after she talks to Nahuel and meets our company, she will go back to normal." I tell them with a smile, but they both look at me like I have lost my mind.

"Sure she will, but not before she rips off Renée and Nahuel arms to beat them with." Bella says sarcastically.

"I know right, I can't believe you said that." Aurora lets out a giggle, rolling her eyes. "Like she could ever hurt Nahuel, now Renée on the other hand. . ." she trails off dramatically.

"Oh please I think Nate's in almost as much trouble as Mom, did you see her face when she got back here and he was nowhere to be found. I'm not sure who she is more pissed at but I'm staying out of it, you and I were asleep when all this happened, thank god. What is Mom thinking?" Bella says while shaking her head.

"Whatever Bells, you did the same thing as Renée when you brought Garrett to meet us, you answer the phone and tells us you meet a vampire. Then you asked if he could come to the B&B to meet us." Aurora says to Bella in a snotty tone.

"What was I supposed to do, I jump from a tree going after dinner then was grabbed by Garr, it worked out fine but really what could I have done any differently?" Bella asks looking back and forth between both of us, then just shrugs.

"I'm not saying that you could have or should have done anything different but your all, 'what is she thinking', you did the same thing. You brought a stranger to meet us, now she is and I don't see the big deal."

"We have no idea what to expect …" Bella starts, but is cut off by Huilen approaching.

"Nahuel won't be back before our company arrives, he has Garrett with him that's why he ran off; it was a 'surprise' for us. He left about three hours ago Renée was still here then. You two stop bickering and keep quiet till we find out what Renée as told them about us." She snapped at them, I just smiled when they both looked down.

"Sorry" they both mummer simultaneously, then they crack a smile at each other.

Bella eyes snap to the left, then I heard it three pairs of feet moving almost silently in the distance. They move at full speed until they were only fifteen yards from us, I looked over our guest quickly.

The male stood glaring at us; he stood about six-foot three, slim build, with long light blond hair with dark burgundy eyes. The female stands slightly behind the male; she is very petite five feet tall at most with hair so blonde that it's almost white. They both appeared to have been changed in their late teens. Judging by the scars that marked their arms and neck they have not had a very peaceful life as vampires.

I stood with Huilen to my right and slightly behind me, Aurora in the same position on my left and Bella stood directly behind me. Renée was standing in-between our two groups beaming, the thick tension in the air went completely unnoticed by her.

"Peter, Charlotte this is my family, Huilen, Dermott, Aurora and Isabella." Renée stated with pride.

As Renée said her name Bella shifted her weight, drawing attention to herself. Peter drop into a defensive crouch and let out a snarl. Renée gasped her eyes wide with shock, Huilen let out her own snarl directed at our company.

"Why have you brought us here? Something's can't be unseen. Immortal children are certainly something we want no part of, but you made us witness and by doing so have put in a position that makes us almost as guilty as you all." Peter hissed at Renée but his eyes were still locked on Bella's small feet.

"She's not. . ." Renée sputtered as she started to answer Peter, but the loud growl I let out stopped her.

"Use your senses, what do you hear? She is no Immortal Child. Don't make accusations until you get the facts." I hiss at Peter.

"Just as bad they both have a heart beat; you let humans know the secret." Charlotte states with an air of confidence.

"Again, don't make accusations; have you ever heard a human heart beat so fast?" I ask still unsure of what Renée has told them about the hybrids.

"They're scared of course they beat fast don't try to fool us into thinking they are something they are not!" Peter growls menacingly and shifting into offensive stance. Huilen, Zora and I all crouch down with our eyes locked on the targets.

"Wait, stop it this is silly..." Renée is speaking to all of us but when Bella steps beside Huilen she too drops in defense of her daughter.

"I'm not scared and I'm not human. Our hearts always beat like this. You don't smell any humans close by, you don't know what we are but we're not any of the things you have said we are. I'm not sure what Renée has told you but why don't we start from the beginning, how did you guys meet Renée?" Bella asks in an eerily calm voice from behind Renée.

"Oh umm well, I got bored, you two were asleep, so I went for a run not far mind you I could hear you still, but then I crossed a fresh scent trail and decided to follow it. Umm, it took a while but then I found them, I just figured I should introduce them to everyone, in case they know other 'vegetarians' vampires…" she trailed off seemingly unsure what to say next.

"But you didn't say we would be seeing something like _them;_ just what the hell _they_ anyway?" Charlotte sneered at Renée, Bella and Zora both let our feral growls of their own making both Peter and Charlotte look at them in shock.

"Look they have to keep their existence a secret just like we do ours, if you don't know what we are then we can't tell you, but know that none of our vampire laws have been broken, they are not human and she's not immortal child, for now just say they are supernatural begins just like we are. Now if we can't work this out before the others get back things could take a turn for the worse." Huilen snapped at our 'guest.'

"Others just how many of you are there?" Peter asked while backing towards his mate slightly.

"Christ Renée did you tell them anything? You just spring all this on them and us expecting some happy little meet and greet." Zora says in an annoyed manner.

"Look we don't want trouble, you don't want trouble, let's stop this before the boys get back and make it even more tense that is already is." Bella said in a pledging tone.

Peter looks at Bella suspiciously, she rolls her eyes and moves a bit closer to Huilen then she sits down Indian style and smiles up at them both.

"I'm Isabella Marie; I go by Bella or Isa. I'm not human and not a vampire, I drink blood and eat food, I sleep, I have a heartbeat, and I grow faster than a human. _We_ have lots in common with vampires, there are just so few of us that _we_ keep under the radar mostly to avoid situations like this. Our family consists of who you see here plus Nahuel he is like me and he is bringing back G who is a vampire. We can answer your question but we can't tell you what we are just like you wouldn't tell us what you are if we didn't already know." Bella states before she looks over at Renée who seems to be relaxing the more Bella speaks. She looks back towards Peter and Charlotte then starts up again.

"Look, you came back with Renée for a reason you wanted to meet us and I'm sorry that she didn't give you a heads up, but did you really think that vampires were the only supernatural things that exist? We are not your enemy; we have no problem with you or any other vampires or other supernatural beings, we just have to keep our secret just like you do. Would you like to get to know us as individuals rather than panicking because you don't know what we are?"

"Jesus, how old is this kid?" Charlotte mutters so quiet that I can barely hear.

"Do you really want to know, I said we would answer your questions?" Bella answers, our guests look shocked, which causes Zora to snicker and say.

"Yeah we heard you, like she said we have lots in common with vampires, well more than just the whole blood drinking thing, anyway." Renée, Zora and Bella all giggle.

"This situation is no laughing matter." Huilen growls at them, they stop immediately and say 'sorry' at the same exact time. I roll my eyes at their antics.

"Nahuel and G will be back soon, we're spending the day in the caves down river from here. Join us if you would like, we only ask that you don't go running around telling everyone you know that you came across something that you had no idea existed. The sun will be up in twenty minutes or so and we need to get to the caves soon; Huilen, why don't you check in with Nahuel and see how long till he gets back." I ask

Huilen stands and pulls out her phone, I stand up as well. Charlotte has been out of her crouch for a while and Peter is looking more defensive than offensive, at least. We can all hear both sides of the conversation between Nahuel and Huilen, when she tells him the names of our guest Garrett bursts out laughing in the background. I then he says out loudly,

"Peter Perfect, you better not be messing with them, I'll let Kitten take you down a peg or two if you are. Char keep him in line till I get there would you, paranoid as you two are why would you have even come to meet them? Never mind, just keep your cool, I'll see you soon."

"Garrett's with the other one, I should have guessed that idiot would be involved with this mess." Peter hisses towards Charlotte.

"Whatever just stand up; with him vouching for them you know we're fine." She hissed right back, causing Garrett to burst out laughing again, only now we can hear him on the phone and in the distance.

A minute and forty-seven seconds later Garrett drops down into the canyon with a loud crash as he lands leaving a small crater where he landed. Huilen rolls her eyes at him and mutters idiot under her breath, Charlotte, Zora, Renée and Bella giggle at his foolery.

"Hey Kitten - Zora, are the big bad, mean, scary, deserters picking on you guys?" He asks, scooping Bella and Zora up into a hug, then twirling them around and full speed.

"Put me down you lug." Zora screeches out while Bella snickers, he puts them down and says

"And here I thought you'd be happy to see me Zora." while she playfully slaps him on the chest.

"Whatever get 'em Bella, he called you Kitten twice now and screwed up my hair! My god you been here only been here seconds…" Garrett, not so gently hip checks Zora ending her rant and sending her flying ten feet back while Bella doubled over in a fit of laughter. He greets the rest of us then turns to Peter and Charlotte.

"Well, if it isn't my good buddies Peter Perfect and Charlotte, how have you guys been? I thought you two hated the South what brings you guys down here?" He asks while shaking both of their hands.

"We could ask you the same Garrett?" Peter asks stiffly, eyeing him with suspicion.

"I was just in Colorado and noticed how far south I was then figured I was only two hundred and fifty miles from these guys and had to swing by for a visit. Come on, you two come hang out for the day then you can head out at sunset." Looking more at Charlotte than Peter, she smiles for the first time since they have arrived.

"Fine, Garrett but if this goes badly I won't stop Peter from kickin your ass, he always sayin you get me into trouble don't prove him right this time." She answers him with a mocking glare and a roll of her eyes.

We grab our stuff and Bella hops on Garrett's back. She mumbles that she missed him, and gives him a kiss on the cheek. Then we are running off towards the caves we found last night.

During the five-minute run Bella, Zora Nahuel, Renée and Garrett tease each other ruthlessly, Charlotte even chuckles a few times but Peter never cracks a smile or lets down his guard in the least.

**_N – P.O.V._**

Isa had unlocked Edward's power and was projecting her mind to me so that I could follow the thoughts of Peter and Charlotte. They were both uneasy partly because we are such a large number of vampires and partly because they still had no clue what to make of the hybrids.

They weren't even trying to consider what we are, they both know that we're not vampires and not human, they accept us as being something other and don't want the responsibility of knowing what we are. If they don't know then they can't be at fault if a law is broken, is what they keep telling themselves when they start to question what we are.

It is odd how their minds came to the same conclusion without any verbal discussion. I wonder if it has something to do with them being mates, or if it was their 'upbringing'. Isa mentally scoffed at me for thinking it was because they were mates. She was quick to point out that Dermott and Huilen have opposing thought and feelings on many matters. She believes they are like-minded from the shared past and nothing more.

As we approach the entrance to the large cave that Huilen and Dermott found last night Peter grabs Charlotte and stops.

"Do any of you have a power?" He asks think of the many powers he saw in the wars and the rumors of the Volturi's offensive powers. Charlotte thinks that we would have used any powers that we had at our disposal by now.

"Renée has a power, it's nothing harmful, when she or someone around her makes a choice she gets a _feeling_ along with it lets her know if it's a good or bad decision. Any other powers that we have are latent." Dermott sates firmly trying his best not to lie but refuses to say anything about Isa shield because it would be sought after by the Volturi. The statement just raises suspicions with our guests.

"That is not an answer, who has an undeveloped power?" Scoffs Peter.

"I have never seen them do anything, and when I first met Kitten I attacked her, so if ever there was a time to see a power in use it would have been then, you need to calm down. We may be in the South but the wars are over." Garrett says while strolling past Peter into the cave, Isa lets out a snarl that echoes loudly, causing the couple to look at her.

"Call me that one more time and I will kick your butt; even with your friends watching." Then she back flips off of him slapping him in the back of his head as she goes. Lightening the mood some but Peter pushes for more answers.

"I can't be sure and don't want to lie that's why I answered the way that I did, I have heard of powers that developed in times of high stress. We tend to avoid situations where that would happen; also some of us are rather young and powers develop over time. So I really don't know, but if we met again one day and someone developed a power I wouldn't want you thinking that I lied to you." Dermott's comments helped to settle Peters mind and he starts thinking of how 'Major' told him it took years to understand and control his own power. Charlotte is comparing Renée to Alice, thinking Renée's power is useless and she asks out loud while laughing in her mind.

"Renée this power of yours told you it was a good choice to bring us back to meet your family? I wouldn't put too much faith in it if I were you."

"No, I did not get a great _feeling_ about bring you to meet them. I had a good _feeling_ about me meeting both of you and an OK _feeling_ about bringing you to meet them. It works just fine thank you!" Renée shoots right back; Charlotte rolls her eyes thinking Renée's power was a joke.

"Oh who cares you don't even have a power Char, let's just get the backgrounds out of the way so that we can have some fun." Garrett says with a spark in his eye, making me wish Isa did not have him and the others under the shields so I could hear his thoughts as well.

We started sharing our history, the only parts we would be leaving out is the birth of hybrids. They both react strongly in thoughts and out loud when they hear that Dermott stayed with the Volturi.

"You are allies of the Volturi; do you report back to them? A spy that's what you are." Charlotte gasped out while Peter moves closer to her with a loud-warning growl. His mind twisted thinking that he would never tell us that they were part of the newborn wars; they too have no faith in the Volturi ruling fairly.

"Please, I got the 'we don't want any trouble talk' before Isabella would even bring me back to the rest of the family when I met them. You know I would never consort with anyone who supports them." Garrett growled out.

"I stayed with them for knowledge, I grew weary of the way they conduct themselves while I was there and I left peacefully. I could not nor would not report back to them it would bring too many questions about my family, I will not risk their safety for anything or anyone." Derm responded finishing with a snarl of his own, causing more hissing from the two.

"Look he has seen the light or whatever; he and Garrett already debated this for hours when they first met. We have always avoided them at all cost alright, one touch from Aro to anyone who knows us and we would be hunted down for answers. We are unknown to them and will stay that way if we have anything to say about it." Zora snapped at the nomad couple.

"Are you threatening us because I will end you where you stand girl." Peter crouched down with his coal-black eyes locked on Zora.

"Again, with the accusations and jumping to conclusions; Peter, all she was saying is that we don't want them to know about our family, but yes we will go to any lengths to protect our family, just as you would do for your mate. If you don't want to continue this discussion or learn any more about us then just say so but stop threatening my family." Huilen stated as she calmly stood between Peter and Zora whom was still sitting down.

"She didn't even move toward you guys or anything, stop blowing stuff out of proportion. Just listen and get to know them they have more on the line than you do." Garrett added as Peter stood eyes still locked on Zora, but he retreated back to the spot near the opening of the cave where he stood like a sentinel. He said nothing more during Dermott's story, but his mind stayed busy he believed little of the story thinking it was cleaned up for present company.

Huilen story was short compared to Dermott's; she spoke of my mother emotionally as always but left me out entirely. At the point where she stopped the gator from killing me in the stream bed, when she learned that she could live on animal blood Charlotte cut in with a question.

"So both of you" she waved her hand between Derm and Huilen "know what real blood tastes like and still choose animal blood instead, but neither of you changed for your mate. I just don't see why you changed at all. We know some 'vegetarians' but they were all taught that way from the start, except the leader he came up with it, and the one who converted from humans only did so to please his mate." She was happy to have someone to ask that she did not care about offending, she feared Jasper too much to be blunt with the Cullen's.

"Here we go, can't we have this debate at the end of story time? Oh and everyone can stop trying not to say Cullen it's funny and all but we all know of them so there is no point in hiding it." Garrett said as he rolled his eyes.

"Garrett don't roll those golden eyes at us, you have spent too much time with these girls, she can ask what she wants when she wants, if I'm not mistaken you interrupted plenty." Charlotte gasped at the golden eye comment but thought it was humorous to see Garrett be scolded like a kid.

"Don't worry Char I'll tell you all about when we get to the point in the timeline where they met me." Both Peter and Charlotte were beyond shocked that we knew _of_ the Cullen's but had not met them. Peter of course thought it was even more of a reason not to trust us.

"If you know of the Cullen's why don't you seek them out?" He grunted.

"We told you we have more to hide than most; we don't normally introduce ourselves' to any vampires intentionally." I answered shooting a hard look at Renée who cringed.

"She brought us back to meet you, how did Garrett meet you all?" Charlotte asked, she now understood that we really did keep our existence a secret and what a risk Renée had taken to bring them to us. Peter also trusted us more now; following the same thought process as Charlotte he could not understand why Renée brought them.

"We'll get to that soon Dermott's so old that his story takes the longest." Isa joked, but she was right with information we had to leave out the rest of us finished quickly. The only other time they interrupted was during Renee's story. They were surprised that she chose this life, and found it difficult to imagine a controlled newborn. Zora, Isa and I gave them facts about hybrids in comparison to vampires. Peter scoffed loudly when Isa said that we were almost as or just as strong as a vampire. Disbelief clouding his mind, he had been told often that vampires were the top of the 'food chain' he could not see anything the strength that he possessed.

"She's telling the truth, she got free from my grasp before I knew what was happening and had me planted into the forest floor. Then she told me she knew what I was and didn't need any protection 'from the likes of me', it cracked me up until I tried to teach her a lesson. Then she kicked my ass; could have killed me too but she just whispered 'Gotcha' right in my ear, before kicking me face down on the ground." Garrett was cracking up as he told his story, Peter grew more tense and Charlotte was sure that he was exaggerating. Isa rolled her eyes and huff at Garrett.

"Aw don't get huffy now Kitten, I was just telling the truth." He said while pouting trying to get her to laugh.

"I warned you about the Kitten thing Gar, this time I may not whisper in your ear, I may just bite the damn thing off so you have a good excuse for not listening to me." She growled and hissed at him, and he was game so he jumped to his feet. Then I heard his mind as well this made me chuckle out loud because he could barely touch her without her hearing his thoughts. They circled each other ignoring the protest from Renée and Huilen, and Zora is cheering Isa on. Neither Dermott nor I bothered to get to our feet; they play fought all the time this was nothing new. Charlotte moved closer wanting to see if Garrett was holding back.

The impromptu wrestling match only took two minutes and seventeen-seconds. Garrett never laid one finger on her and she did end up biting his ear but left it attached. He yelp in pain, his mind confused because we told him she was non-venomous but he felt the burn just as he would if bitten by a vampire. He said nothing out loud about but vowed to ask Isa or myself later.

"Isabella Marie, I can't believe you bit him!" Huilen scolded loudly while Renee's mouth still hung open in shock.

"What it didn't hurt that bad, we aren't venomous like you all. It was just a joke and besides I warned him about the Kitten thing." Isa answered with her eyes lock on Garrett, praying he said nothing to the contrary.

Garrett noticed the looks on Peter and Charlotte's faces, before chuckling towards them. "Don't look so worried, Peter Perfect, she only gets mad like that when you call her Kitten" Isa growled. "And besides she's the best fighter out of the three of them; although I would love to see a match between the two of you."

"No way, not happening, no more fighting today!" Renée screeched. "I hate when you two go at it; she so small if I had a heart it would have stopped, Christ!" She huffed and Isa smiled angelically at Peter batting her eyes lashes.

Peter fought the urge to lunge at her; he was very impressed with her skills. Watching her fight reminded him of watching Edward or Alice fight but her style was all her own. He wanted to know who would win if they were to spar but felt uncomfortable with the idea of playing with her, his temper often got out of hand when he fought, he was sure that if he hurt her we would all defend and those were not odds he liked. He was also wary of the rest of the family if she fought that well then who had taught her, she was the youngest after all.

Charlotte was very impressed and noticed the similarities between Isa and Alice in a fight but did not think of Edward, she was very curious who would win between Isa and Peter. She was about to ask him to spar with Isa when she saw the look on his face and knew he would not hold his temper. She had not fought since they left Maria's army Peter always defended her so she would not have to revisit that time of her life.

The rest of the day flew by; Peter told the story of how they met while in a newborn army in Mexico. They had escaped with the help of a friend when Charlotte's first year was up and she had lived out her usefulness. He never named a single vampire as he told his story, when Zora asked him why? He simply said he never uses anyone's given name when telling a story.

Charlotte did not think that Jasper had anything to do with the escape and believed he would have killed her without thought. Still after many years have passed she has not forgiven him for his treatment of her as a newborn. She tolerates him at best, when they visit the Cullen's she enjoys the others but always feels anxious around him. She lets Peter believe she hates being around large numbers of vampires but really it's all about Jasper.

Charlotte bonded well with Huilen, Renée and Zora, she liked Isa but was still apprehensive of her after watching her fight with Garrett, and they talked about trivial things until an hour before twilight. Then she asked about our choice of diet bluntly. She wanted to know why from Dermott he had fed for over a century on humans then changed. He told the story of killing his young singer and distant relative; it was very traumatic for him. He then skipped over the years in the tree and jumped to an acquaintance telling him about Carlisle's way of life. He found that drinking animal blood made him calmer and found peace within himself because of the change of diet. Charlotte thought about Jasper saying similar things about the effect of animal blood and thought that Peter would be less paranoid if he changed his diet but still could not grasp why we cared about killing humans. Isa chimed in from her spot across the cave where she was playing cards with Garrett.

"It's like this, what was the worst part of becoming a vampire?"

"Losing everyone and everything." Charlotte scoffed not understanding how a non-vampire could understand.

"Did you ever think about your family's loss or how much they missed you after your change?" Isa asked continuing to ignore Charlotte's tone.

"Of course!" Charlotte snapped.

"Well, every time you kill some human you do that to a family, you cause them to lose someone, the one you kill isn't the one who suffers, it's the family that's left; they are the ones who truly suffer." Isa stated still playing the game, but Charlotte growled at her and stood, still Isa ignored her attitude and her movement.

"What do you know, you've said time and time again that you're not even a vampire?" She was mad that Isa made her feel sorry for the families of her victims.

"Your right, I'm not and I also don't care if you keep killing humans, I made my choice. You keep trying to see why we choose what we did and that's why. I mean Garrett looked at trying animals as a challenge, then liked the effects of it, it's not like we went out of our way to convert him or something. You can keep killing humans for all I care, we know more human drinkers than 'veggie' anyway." Garrett snickered at Isa's blunt answer.

Charlotte was contemplative after Isa little speech, she believed her about her not caring one way or another, but wondered about the rest of us and wondered if the Cullen's judged her for her choice. Peter was irritated that Isa seemed to have upset Charlotte and gave no thoughts to our diet, just Charlotte she was the only thing that mattered to him.

When twilight came we said our goodbyes which were awkward at best, but they had given their word not to tell anyone about us. Peter wanted to ask Carlisle for information to curb his curiosity but wouldn't because he did not really want the answers. Isa ran after Charlotte at the last second and said.

"Look I'm sorry if I stirred up some bad memories, but really I don't care what you drink. You seem like a good person and that's all that matters to me. If you come across our scent and want to swing by to say "Hi", that would be cool but if not we understand. We will only be in the states for a few more weeks and then we'll be flying out of Seattle but maybe a few years down the road we'll see you again." Isa told her with a smile she then turned towards Peter and whispered, "I really didn't mean to hurt her feeling, sorry." They both gave her a slight nod and then they were gone.

Running straight towards the Cullen's in case we caused them any trouble when we traveled into their territory. They would take their time but would be there before us by two weeks at most.

As their minds faded I looked as Isa and thought with a chuckle

'_Just couldn't resist sending them help could you?'_

Edwards face, fear, longing and slight panic flashed in her mind before she snapped her powers off and turned walking back towards us slowly.

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Thanks for reading & please send reviews they mean the world to me!

Who should we hear from Next? Would you like to check in with the Cullen's?

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

_Also check out my profile for a poll, charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_1/18/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	23. upheaval

**_Chapter 23 - Upheaval_**

**_G – P.O.V._**

As Peter and Char left a new tension filled the air. Huilen had her hands clenched into fists at her sides and she was glaring at he ground. Bella walked slowly as she approached us, none of the stress had left her small frame yet. We all knew what was next.

"Well, now that that's over with, what are our plans for the night?" Renée asked me with a spark in her eye.

Huilen let out a hiss of irritation and Dermott grabbed her hand, pulling her into his side. Bella shook her tiny head, Nate scoffed and Zora eyes shot up to look at Renée. I'm not sure what Zora saw but it was enough to push her over the edge.

"Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me? They just left and you think we're all just going to go about our business, ignoring the fact that we just had a disastrous meeting with two nomads, who could very well be ratting us out to anyone who will listen!" Zora billowed into the night air while never breaking eye contact with Renée.

"Look I knew it was risky but all's well that ends well, right, I mean umm I didn't get any bad feeling when they left, I'm sure we're fine." Renée answer shakily.

"Oh you think this is over, we have known them for less than eleven hours and you think they will keep our secret? I don't trust them as far as I can throw them, and considering Peter would kill me before I could lay one finger on them, that's not far. I defended you this morning, but really what were you thinking bringing them to us?" Zora started her rant loudly but finished soft and sad.

"Who did you defen…?" She asked looking from Bella, Huilen and Dermott, then back to Bella with a hard glare, but Huilen jumped right in.

"No, answer her! Why did you bring them here? You already said your power was not giving you a _great feeling, _so tell us why you felt it was OK to put all of us at risk." Huilen snapped, not even trying to hide her outrage.

"Um, I don't know I didn't really get a feeling either way, it was indifference. I figured that it went well we met Garr and it that turned out fine so; I mean Bella did the same thing and nobody was mad at her! But just like always I do something and it turns into some big deal," Renée said her tone indignant as ever, like always when she compares herself to Bella.

I have never understood the relationship Bella and Renée have, there has always been some underlying stress between them. Bella takes a step back, pulling herself out of the loose circle we have formed after Renée's comments. She takes a few deep breaths then steps forward and speaks,

"I'm going to say my piece then I'm sitting out of this discussion." She says in a firm tone but her chin is quivering as she held back her emotions. "The difference between what I did and what happened here toady is simple, I **did not** go looking for Garrett. He knew that I was something _other_ before he came to meet all of you, he knew what he was getting himself into. I told him about you guys, and what to expect on the run to the B&B. I told you all everything I knew about Garr before I brought him and told you what he knew about our family as well. I don't really see how anything that happened today is comparable to what I did; the only parallel is meeting someone new. You ambushed everyone today, including Peter and Charlotte who I'm sure that given a choice would not have wanted to meet any of us if they knew what they were getting into." As she finished the tears in her eyes fell down her cheeks, then she walks away from us putting her headphones on and turning them up loudly as she went.

"I'll never understand that girl." Renée muttered and mayhem erupted around me.

Emotions were high, their voices got louder and louder, as they talked over one another. Zora and Huilen kept asking Renée questions but her only answers was I don't know. Dermott tried to calm everyone down a few times but was making no headway. After a full five minutes I walked away, I could still hear them clearly as I sat next to Bella with our legs dangling off the cliff.

"Sorry about your ear, I didn't think it would hurt that bad." She said without looking up or removing her earphones.

"Yeah, are you sure you guys aren't venomous? Cause I think that's going to leave a mark," I chuckled. She eyed me carefully before a second before she spoke in a whisper.

"Nate is the only male that we know about and he has venom, none of the other girls do but I was never tested. We just thought it was a boy girl thing. I wouldn't have bitten you if I had known." Her eyes filled with tears again.

"Hey now, I know you didn't hurt me on purpose! What's got you so out of sorts lately? I can tell you've been in a funk lately, just talk to me." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and pulled her tight to my side.

"I, it's just, I can't tell you!" She huffed sounding so miserable. "One day, I know I'll be able to; but right now I just can't tell you, God I wish I could, Nate's the only one who knows everything, it's just too dangerous," she says with a hysterical edge to her voice.

"You can tell me, you have nothing to fear from me, you know that."

"No – no I didn't mean danger from you! I just, I know I shouldn't have even told Nate but I didn't know what else to do. And now every time I want to tell . . . umm I just can't!" It was almost like she physically unable to tell me what she wanted, she looked like she was sick and it got worse the more she spoke.

"It's ok you don't have to say anything, just know that whatever it is I'm on your side," I said as rubbed her back. She was almost in tears and it was so unlike her to be overly emotional. "Is there anything I can do to help, you don't have to tell me anything, I just hate seeing you like this," I told her honestly.

"Maybe, but you can't ask anything or tell anyone, not even Nate. I would owe you for life . . . It's not about the same thing that I'm so upset about now but, it's important, really important, at least to me anyway." I cut off her shy rambling.

"Just tell me what to do, and consider it done."

"Ok just remember, no questions." She blushed bright red; I had to hold back my laughter as I nodded. "Can you go to Alaska? See I heard some stuff that, I, never mind it's . . . Someone you know needs help. I can't help them but you can and if you go to Alaska I know you'll find out." What she said made no sense to me, she doesn't know anyone that I do except Peter and Char, but I told her I would do whatever she needed.

"Alright, Alaska's kinda big any chance you could narrow it down a bit for me?" I ask somewhat hesitantly. Although the idea of a goose chase across Alaska is not so bad.

"Yup, Denial National Park south-west corner! Ok, this is the really odd part, you can't think about any of us till you know who's there." I'm looking at her like she has lost her mind. "Remember no questions, but I swear you're going to like what you find."

"Alright Kitten - when do I leave?" I ask, with a big smile.

"Just like that you'll do it?" I nod. Her smile is biggest and brightest I have ever seen. "Thank you, thank you so much! I can even let the Kitten thing slide. Whenever you want, sooner is better than later but I'm just so happy you'll go," She says while giggling.

We talked about nothing of importance for a few minutes, trying to ignore the family feud that was still happening forty yards away. We made plans to go cliff-jumping once the other made peace. Bella figured if we dropped into the river it would cover the craters we would leave behind. Huilen should be Ok with our planes; I think she has gotten over our last stunt.

When I met up with them in Kansas I took a very bored Zora and Bella hunting with me one night, somehow got on the topics of Aliens while lying in a wheat field. So, I came up with a contest to see who could make the best crop circles. We used the local news as the judge, which ever photo the reporters put up first would be the winner. Zora won hands down with her butterfly, Bella made an intricate maze and I had stuck with traditional looking shapes. No one suspected we had anything to do with it, till Zora asked what she won. Huilen figured out what we had done, grounding both of them. Renée complained that she did not get to come with us.

"So what has Zora acting so odd lately?" I asked in a low voice.

"Ugh, I think that's my fault. Nate said something about me finding my mate, but I didn't want to talk to him about so I asked her. She didn't really know so then we had this big family talk about. But see Derm and Huilen are the only mated one's, but they're vampires so she has it in her head that it's not the same for us. Nate is the only male we know of that's one of us and he's a hundred and fifty with no mate. Even if we do have mates she can't see how we would meet them cause we keep to ourselves so much. Derm talked so much about his life revolving around Huilen, and how he never had a purpose till they met. Now, I think she feels like she needs to find a purpose for her life without a mate," She told me very seriously. It's the same story I got from Nate.

"I'm guessing that's why she wants to live in the human world so badly now, so she can feel like she is part of something more. I think she's putting too much emphasis on being like humans; she's not human and playing with them won't change that," I tell her.

"You're right, in a way but who can she socialize with, there are only six of _us _that we know of, and other than our family we know a total of six vampires. So hanging out with humans is at least safer than finding more supernatural beings to be friends with, we can't even tell you what we are. At least humans think we're like them, you didn't see Peter and Charlotte when the first came, it almost got physical more than saying I was an immortal child then they thought we were humans, Peter was just looking for a reason to fight."

"What happened with them is going to make Nate, Derm and Huilen even more stressed about keeping you guys under the radar."

"I'm alright with the way things are, and Zora wants' to hang out with the humans, it's not a big deal for her to do that."

"If you say so, I just think building relationships with humans will turn out bad in the end. What happens when you all have to move on? Will she be able to leave them behind?" I ask thinking about how that would affect her.

"I don't know you'll have to ask her. She wants to go to high school when we settle next, that's all I know. I'm sure she has considered what will happen when she has to move on," Bella answers with a shrug.

"I'm sure."

We lapse into a comfortable silence, the others have quieted down but Renée seems like she still doesn't get what the big deal is. The others all sound frustrated with her inability to admit she was wrong, she keeps insisting it was the same thing Bella did with me. I now understand why Bella sat this one out.

"Is she always like that?" Bella did not answer but shrugged.

They all go back a forth a few more times before Renée says, "It's not like we were in any real danger, there were only two of them."

I roll my eyes, pat Bella's tiny head and run over to the rest of them.

"You really think you were in no danger. Peter and Char both lived through multiple newborn battles. They could have easily ended one or more of you guys today. What did your power tell you when they took an offensive stance? I'll bet it was the worst _feeling_ you ever had, that's because if he wanted to he could have ended you! Between the two of them I'll bet they have killed well over a hundred vampires, their maker did not keep around anyone who wasn't useful. I have never seen Peter lose a fight, that's how I came up with Peter perfect. I first met them thanks to a mutual friend; I still lost my left arm within ten minutes of the introduction. Still feel like you did not endanger your whole family today?" I said in a deadly tone. She just didn't get how bad things could have been; everyone was silent after I said that.

"The only reason they came with you was because they have no fear, they know what they are capable of. You have your power use it! We all know that when you _feel indifferent_ it means something's not right, so why did you ignore it?" I ask harshly. Renée looked to the ground.

"What? No answer," I pushed.

"I don't know, alright! I just wanted to meet some new friends," Renée yelled at me.

"No - it's not alright, we talked about this before your change, this family has to keep the secret above all else. You risked the rest of us when you made the choice to bring them back to meet us. You went against your power, I asked you about your _feelings_ and you lied how are we supposed to trust you now?" Dermott spoke like he was scolding a young child and in a way he was she is still new to this life, not even two years old.

"Fine, I'm sorry – I get it now." But Renée's eyes blazed with anger. Huilen shook her head and said,

"No, I don't think you do, and I'm sorry is not going to cut it this time." Then Huilen took a tearful Zora by the hand and walked towards where Bella was sitting.

Nate looked toward Bella, then stepped closer to Renée and whisper harshly in her ear.

"Do have any idea how much you hurt her and Zora when you act like this. Isa hates fighting with you, Zora always tries to defend you, and then they fight too." He left as well, Renée's eyes now filled with tears that would never fall.

"If you don't want to live the way we do, that's OK, but we can't risk exposing Nahuel, Aurora or Isabella the way you did today. The choice is yours." Then Dermott went to comfort a sobbing Zora and Bella.

Renée looked at me and asked, "What am I going to do now?"

"I don't know that's up to you." I gave her a smile and said, "But I have a favor to do for a friend and need to be on my way. Call me if you need to talk, I think I should have my phone charged for a while."

I pulled Zora away for a brief talk, but promised her that we would talk soon. I said goodbye to the others, only telling them that I had a favor to do for a friend and that I would be heading north for a while. I saw Nate give Bella a strange look; she blushed in response and looked down.

Then I was off running at full speed, my destination the southwest corner of the Denial National Park.

**_N – P.O.V._**

Meeting Peter and Charlotte has thrown our family into upheaval, but we can't blame them for it. The liability belongs to Renée alone.

Isa will not use any of her powers other than her shields, she told me via text that she heard more than she ever wanted to from the mind of our family during our fight after Peter and Charlotte left. I can only imagine the hurtful things she saw in the minds of Renée and Zora; she still won't look them in the eye.

Dermott and Zora have been acting as mediators, but the lines have been drawn. Huilen will not tolerate anything that puts our family at risk and she sees Renée behavior as a threat to all of us. Isa will only state that she said her piece before and will not discuss any of it. I tend to agree with her, what's been done is done, what was said can't be unsaid. I see no way to justify, Renée bringing them back to us or her inability to see it as a mistake. Speaking of it days later won't change how any of us feel about it.

Zora is explaining that she understands Renée's need to meet new "people" she feels a similar need. That's why she wants to go to high schools, settle into a town and become part of a community. I understand the need for more but Renée wants more vampire relationships and refuses to see the risks. The rest of us, with the exception of Isa, feel that being part of the human world is enough for us. Isa can't wait till we have a semi-permanent residence, but it has nothing to do with making friends or playing human, she just wants to be herself and can't do that traveling around the country.

"Think that after we meet the Irish and spend some time with them, you'll be ready to settle in some place?" Dermott said to Renée as we discussed out road trip ending in a few weeks.

"Maybe," Renée mutters, looking towards the door Isa disappeared behind as soon as we started talking about what's next for our family.

"You understand we can't keep up with the constant travel, the rest of us **need** to settle down again Renée." Zora says, as she plops down next to Renée on the sofa in our outrages suite on the Los Vegas Strip.

"I guess we can travel a lot but just set up with you all as a home base of sorts, but I would rather do it with you all," Renée said in a solemn voice.

"Who do you mean by 'we' Renée?" Huilen asked in a very concerned voice.

"Bella and me of course." Renée scoffed.

"Do have any concept of how dangerous that would be not just for the two of you but the rest of us a well? You can't do that." Huilen vented while glaring at Renée.

"What, you think I would leave my daughter behind? She's coming with me." Renée said glaring back at her.

"You don't seem to understand what I'm saying Renée. YOU CAN'T TAKE HER WITH YOU! You plan to run around meeting vampires, she cannot be a part of that," Huilen snapped. "I will not allow it."

Renée let out a soft growl.

"Let's table this talk for a while, we still have a few months before we settle down some place. Renée, think carefully about what you want but consider what you are risking as well. If this is something you really want to do you may want to speak with your daughter about it as well." With that he grabbed Huilen by the arm, practically dragging her out of the suit.

"You really want to leave the family Renée?" Zora asks, her voice trembling.

"I don't want too, but I can't see myself settling down in one place even if it's only for a few years. I want to be more like Garr and Charlotte go wherever, whenever. I just don't think I would be happy stuck in one place," Renée said sympathetically.

"But you'd leave us all behind and be happy out on your own?" Zora asked and the tears started cascading down her face.

"I'd miss you guys but . . . I'm not sure if I could leave you guys but I just don't see myself being happy with what we have planned next." She is trying not to hurt Zora's feelings but it's not working in the least.

The door to Isa room slams open and Isa stomps out.

"Come on Zora, Nate, we have to get going if we want to make it to the show on time. I got an extra ticket for both shows, so the three of can go," Isa says in a strangled voice. Isa was supposed to go to see the Cirque de Soeil shows at MGM and Aria with Renée tonight but clearly had made new plans.

"Bella, you and I are supposed to be going together tonight," Renée said in a questioning tone.

"Yeah well, I'd be happier going with my brother and sister, you know as a family," Isa stated flatly.

"Oh, umm, alright just have fun I guess." Renée did nothing to hide the hurt in her voice.

"We will, come on guys." Isa grabbed our hands and pulled us from the suite.

None of us said anything until we were in the lobby,

"So I guess you heard everything she said?" Zora asked Isa.

Isa snickered, looked up at Zora and said, "Yeah, just cause I'm not taking part in the 'talks' doesn't mean I'm not paying attention. There is just no point in talking to her when she's excited about something, we would just end up fighting, she has tunnel vision right now."

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't mean what I said after Peter and Charlotte left. Well, I do but not the way it came out. You are lucky to have her but I get that it's doesn't make it ok for her to treat you the way she does sometimes."

"I know that Zora but you still said things that were hurtful. I get what you're trying to say but you have to admit . . . Never mind I don't want to get into it. I forgive you but try to see my side of the relationship, because it's not what you think."

"I get that – today more than ever," Zora sighed loudly.

"Wait, what was said between you guys?" I ask. Zora must have said something really nasty if Isa is just now letting it go, three days later.

Zora opens her mouth to tell me but Isa tugs on her hand and tells me not to worry about it.

The shows were outstanding! We all had a great time and Zora and Isa seemed to have moved passed their disagreement. The whole way home they joked about breaking into the stage so they could play on the trapezes and tightropes. Dermott told us they saw Renée down stairs playing Black Jack when they came up, he and Huilen had spent the evening walking along the strip. Isa quietly told Huilen that she was not going with Renée if she chose to travel, which left us all stunned. Before we could ask any questions she ran off to her room and locked the door.

Isa finally came out of her room at quarter till 10 the next morning; we had all been giving her some space after she fled the room the night before. She was dressed in what I had come to consider a Renée outfit; purple tights, black Mary Jane's, jean skirt and a 'cute' logo tee-shirt. Her hair normally wild hair was in pigtails and she wore a sarcastic smile.

"Hey Zora, will you walk me down to the café? Mom sent me a text while I was sleeping asking me to meet her at ten."

"Sure, nice outfit by the way!" Zora snickered.

"Whatever it's my version of a peace-offering," Isa muttered irritably.

Dermott, Huilen and I spent the next two hours planning the California part of our trip and trying figure what to say to Renée about her travel plans without her getting defensive. Now that we knew for sure that Isa had no plans on going with her we just needed her to understand the rules if she chooses to leave.

The three of us received a text from Zora at the same time,

_Renée never showed up and her phone is off. I need some help with Bella she's a mess and people are starting to stare! Get down here a.s.a.p. – A.G._

_._

_._

Thanks for reading & please send reviews they mean the world to me!

I need your **help**, I am really trying to improve my writing so if you see a mistake let me know so I can fix it and try not to make it anymore.

P.S last week for the poll for Nate's mate!

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_1/26/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	24. powers that be

_**Chapter 24 – Powers that be**_

_**B - P.O.V.**_

I check the clock again, fifty-five hours have passed since Mom sent me that text. I can't get my mind to settle. I leave Mom's power 'on' all the time now that she is missing.

I have tried to come up with every scenario, from having one or all of us going after her and every combination in between, but no matter how I arrange it my head I still_ feel _the dread come over me if we go after her. Waiting, that's the only solution I can come up with that won't send Mom's power into a frenzy.

Zora is frustrated because I don't think we should go after her. I keep telling her that Mom would want us safe that's why she didn't bring them, whoever they are, back to us. All we know is that she and six human drinking vampires were heading south. She could be anywhere by now and we still don't know why she went with them in the first place.

Huilen and I have been the only ones who have not questioned her motives for leaving with them. I know my mom and she has made many strange choices but she would never leave without saying 'good bye' or trying to get me to go with her.

I give up on falling asleep and decide to join Dermott and Huilen on the balcony. We sit in total silence, but at least now I'm not alone. They are curled up together on the love seat while I stretch out on the lounge. I have my soft shield projected out as far as it will go, hoping that Mom's spark will just pop in. I want to pretend that she is just out hunting and will be back at any moment. If I could convince myself of that maybe I'd be able to get some sleep.

I may not need as much sleep as a human but I normally get around six hours a , in the last two days I might have slept a total of four hours. My body is tired but my mind just won't let go. Trying a new distraction I started counting all the sparks under my shield, hoping my mind will shut down.

I jolt awake, my phone vibrating in my hand. One new email, I open it as fast as my phone will allow.

~o~

_To: Fam-Groupmail_

_From: Never-nay-sayer_

_Sub: DON'T COME AFTER ME!_

_Whatever you do, don't come looking for me._

_If I decide to have you come for me or I try to leave before they let me, I get the strongest feelings of Grief and Loss and Dread – it's the most powerful feeling I have ever felt, it's crippling._

_I was approached by two females, they asked me to help them find a friend – I went to tell them no, but my power reacted so strongly that I thought I would vomit. So I went with them. Shortly after they hunted we met up with the males._

_The male in charge is a Tracker so I can't leave without him following me. With the exception of two leaders the others are newborns, four of them. We are still headed south on foot. He said we have to meet with someone to get the rest of the help we will need. He claims this is a rescue mission but I'm sure he is lying. I'm trying to play nice to get more info, but it's not working yet._

_I know that all this sounds bad but I'll be back with you guys when I can, just not till it's safe. Wait for me in the Olympic National Forest._

_I'll send emails when I can get far enough away from the others._

_I love and miss you all – stay safe! XX ~R_

_P.S. I finally get it; I'm so sorry I risked our family, it won't happen again._

~o~

I dash into the suit ignoring all human pretenses and everyone else is already waiting on me. I smiled widely and out of the corner of my eye I saw Nate's shoulder relax. I was practically vibrating with excitement. We finally heard from Mom and she was alive and in one piece.

I had done everything in my power not to consider the alternative. However the more time passed, I did consider how I would feel it my last words to my mother were said in anger.

_"Yeah well, I would be happier going with my brother and sister you know as a family_." I said with no emotion, but I was livid after hearing her say that she wanted to keep the nomadic lifestyle and drag me all over the world with her. Did she even consider what I would want? NO! How could she take me away from Nate and Zora, away from any of them, really? Then for her to just blurt it out like it was nothing of consequence. It was like my "birthday surprise" all over again. I wanted my words to snap her back to reality; she was not the only one who mattered!

I was half happy and half disappointed that she wasn't in the suit when we got back for the night. I was not ready to apologize for my harsh words yet.

Zora brought up the fight between Huilen and Mom several times over the past two days, blaming Huilen for "driving Renee away." When she could not get a rise out of Huilen she moved on to me. Zora was mad about the situation and just wanted someone to blame, I get that. Still it hurt, just like it hurt when she thought all those nasty things about me the day we meet Peter and Charlotte.

The shrill sound of Nate's phone ringing snapped me back to the present.

It was Garrett, a very out raged Garrett! He couldn't believe that we had not gone after Renée. He tried to persuade us to let him round up a few friends to help get her back. Then he brought up what I'm sure we have all been thinking.

"I'm telling you man, this is bad news. She is traveling south with a group of four Newborns. She could be in real danger and not just if a fight breaks out. If the Volturi gets wind of some trying to start up the wars in the South, you'll have some real trouble on your hands," Garrett ranted. Zora's breath hitched, she swallowed compulsively and blinked back tears. She had not made the connection till Garr said it out loud.

"We know! But we can't ignore her _feelings._ She said not to come after her. We just have to wait and to hope that she knows what she is doing," Nate replied while eyeing me carefully. I gave him a slight nod, he was right.

Huilen was hugging and mumbling words of comfort to Zora, and Dermott gave me a weak smile from across the room. I just smiled back I had already thought of the many implications of whom she was with and where she seems to be heading. I know that she has not made the best choices in the past, concerning her power, but I fully believe that with our lives on the line she will do what's best for all of us.

"Kitten, I'll be talking with you later!" Garrett playfully growled as he said reluctant good byes. Now that I gave him the green light to call me Kitten he'll never use my name again.

Almost as soon as he hung up I got a text from him.

_Kitten – Call me the second you are alone. We need to talk! – G_

Yeah, like I was going to get any alone time; Huilen was watching us all like a hawk. Ever since mom's disappearance, we have barely been out of sight let alone hearing distance, other than when they tracked Mom's sent into the desert.

_Email me. I won't be alone anytime soon and I'm assuming you're not alone all the time now either. – Isa_

_Fine - but I NEED some answers, I know I said no questions but . . . How the hell did you send me to my Mate? – G_

What his mate? Oh god, don't let it be Tanya. I don't think I could ever be friends with someone like her. My heart sank, he found his Mate, and he won't be coming with us to Europe. I'm truly happy for him but I know how much everyone, especially Nate, wanted him to come with us. Nate was watching me from across the room. He gave me that look that said "what now?" I knew I had to wrap it up with Garrett.

_Umm who? That's not why I sent you. Email me, I'll tell you what I can. Everyone else is getting curious - I'll get back to you later. – Isa_

Nate kept signaling me to read his mind but I wouldn't, I know he wants to talk, but I need some time and answers for myself first. I projected a quick image of me saying "later" to him; earning myself an eye roll from him.

Next we sat down together to email Mom back, there wasn't much to say.

~o~

_To: Never-nay-sayer_

_From: Fam-Groupmail_

_Sub: Re: DON'T COME AFTER ME!_

_We'll be leaving tonight and are heading to the Olympic National Forest._

_Keep your head down and your ears open. Find out whatever you can and let us know if things change we'll come for you when you say we can. Try to find out names if you can but at least send us a description of the leaders, Garr or Derm may be able to give you some helpful info on them if we know who they are._

_Don't say anything about your power!_

_We love and miss you too, STAY SAFE above all else._

_XOXO_

~o~

Zora and I both wanted to send more a personal, supportive message, but Dermott wanted to get keep it short and to the point. Telling us her time alone was limited and that we did not need her getting emotional or worrying about us. I know he is right, but I still plan to send her a message of my own later.

The day passed slowly, we packed our stuff most of mine would be donated the following day in Seattle. Zora spent time online searching for a camping gear store with a parking garage, so we could go without having to worry about the partly cloudy day the weatherman was predicting.

When Dermott and Huilen left to hunt, Zora was still griping about having to 'ditch' her great clothing for camping gear. Nate's was online finding what types of animals we would hunt while in the area.

"What should I tell Hector? He sent me an email checking in," I asked them. Both looked a bit dumbstruck from my question.

"I'm not sure you should tell him anything, he'll react just like Garrett did. We won't be able to stop him from rounding up everyone from home and setting off on a rescue mission," Nate answered.

"Yeah he would!" Zora nodded in agreement. "Don't say anything to him they would be running north before he finished reading. Although, can you imagine what the vampires that have Renée would think, be attached by three or four huge Jaguars," she snickers.

"That would be quite a sight. I think we better leave them out of it unless it sounds like they are getting too far south that they may find her on their own." Nate says.

"God, I hope they don't go that far south. We would have to find a way to warn to the Amazons too," I mumble. "I'll email him back about the stuff we are up to and leave Mom out of it." I walked into my bedroom to avoid having them read over my shoulder while I email Hector.

I let hector know that we are leaving Vegas and heading to Washington State. I tell him a bit about the shows we saw while here and how I wish that I could play on the stages for the Cirque du Soeil.

Then I move on to Garrett's email, the curiosity has been killing me, it was sent hours ago. Nate has been watching me all day so I couldn't slip away to read it.

~o~

_To: Isa – B_

_From: Revolutionaryman_

_Sub: I'm here, now what?_

_Kitten -_

_I assume you wanted me to meet the coven of 'veggies'. They say that they have been in the territory for over a hundred years. I know I won't normally say anything about anyone but it's different now that I have found my mate and because you sent me here for some unknown reason._

_Kate, my mate is wonderful. I hope that in the future I can introduce her to you all. She seems very trustworthy and kindhearted, I won't share your story till it's time to meet you. Meeting her was just like I've heard, the connection was instant and she is everything I never knew was missing from my life. I think that we will be staying here for the foreseeable future, but I'm sure that I will be able to convince her to come see you guys in Europe._

_Kate has two 'sisters' Tanya and Irina they have been together since they were created around one thousand years ago. Tanya seems like a real piece of work, flirting with me even though Kate introduced me as her mate and was standing next to me. Irina is cold and seems withdrawn. Laurent, (Irina's _**_friend_**_) is also new to this lifestyle. There is a lot of tension between everyone and him but I'm not sure why yet. Carmen and Eleazar are the only other mated pair. Eleazar was with the Volturi for some time, so naturally I don't trust him. He left them when he found Carmen. That's really all I know for now I have only been here for a day and have spent most of that time with Kate._

_If you did not send me here for my mate, then why am I here?_

_Who needs my help?_

_Call me when you can get away from everyone else. I hope you're doing ok with the latest mess with Renée._

_Garr_

~o~

_To: Revolutionaryman_

_From: Isa – B_

_Sub: Re: I'm here now what?_

_Garrett_

_I'm so happy for you, but I had no idea you would find your mate. I can't wait to meet her._ _Check with everyone else but I'm sure they will say that you can tell her about the Family as soon you're sure she can handle it. I trust you and if you trust her then good, come see us soon, the more the merrier._

_I can't believe you did not figure it out. When we first meet, you asked if I knew Carlisle because I was with animal drinkers. It's my understanding that the Denials are good friends with his coven._

_As for how I know, when we were in Alaska I overheard some of them talking. I stayed hidden somehow. It sounded like the Cullen's maybe in some kind of trouble I'm not really sure. Nate is the only one I told about it. He kept telling me to stay out of it and that we could not be involved but I've been worried. I don't know where the Cullen's are now, (I overheard them talking about moving, they were in Washington) or if they are still having problems. I wanted to help if I could, and sending you was the only thing I could do._

_Sorry I didn't tell you right away – Nate had me convinced that we needed to stay out of it. When you mentioned the Cullen's to Peter and Charlotte, it got me thinking about it. With you being there I couldn't resist sending you to find them. I knew that if you started in Denial you would find Carlisle eventually. I should have told you before you left so that you knew what you were getting into but I couldn't risk the others overhearing. Nate has no idea I sent you to them. I also hoped that by telling Peter and Charlotte that we would be in Washington soon that they too would check in on the Cullen's._

_God – Deceiving you like I did, was so wrong. Doing all this seemed like a great way to help. Now that I look at in written black and white, I can see how wrong I was. I'm so sorry Garr._

_Please forgive me_

_Isabella_

_PS ~ Keep an eye on Laurent he has something to do with the trouble the Cullen's are in, they mentioned him._

~o~

I read over my email twice before sending it. I want to cry, it was so deplorable for me to send Garr into a situation like that with no warning. Nate was correct, I should have just stayed out of it. That or I should've found a way to tell Garr the truth. Mom's power gave me a _great feeling_ when I thought of sending him up to Denali so I went for it without thinking it all the through. I'm sure he's safe; Moms power would have let me know if I was sending him off to his death. However, I'm not sure he will forgive me for my deceitfulness.

As I close out my email and stuff my i-pad back into my backpack, Zora comes in to tell me it's time to go.

On the plane Nate is relentlessly, trying to get me to 'show' him what's bothering me. I finally gave into him about an hour after we take off. I show him everything.

Zora's spiteful thoughts about me on the day we met Peter and Charlotte . . .

_Spoilt brat . . . It was fine when she did it_

_. . take's her mother for granted. ._

_I would never treat my mom like that. . ._

_. . .She is so judgmental and condescending to Renée . ._

_. .thinking she's better than everyone else. ._

I moved on to Mom's thoughts towards the end of the fight.

_. . they always blame me. ._

_How am I supposed to find happiness if I can't meet other vampires? . . ._

_ . . .I'll just leave they can do whatever they want I'm not giving up my freedom to sit in some Podunk town till the end of time. ._

_. . .this is all Bella's fault. . ._

_. . I wish I were still human . . . _

I showed/told him how I felt when Renée announced that she and I were traveling without the family - fear, anger, resentment, rejection and outrage. Renée did not show up at the café, at first I felt the same outrage that I felt the night before, thinking that she did it because I took Nate and Zora with me to Cirque du Soeil. Then as more time passed and we could not reach her the unbridled terror I felt when I realize that something bad happened to her. I also shared with him the worry and stress of using her power to try to figure out what to do over the past few days.

I paused for a moment and then showed him each of the text Garr sent me, followed by his email, my email, and our secret conversation at the Grand Canyon. Finally the remorseful thoughts about sending him, Peter and Charlotte into possible danger without any warning. I take a quick look at Nate and he is glaring furiously at me. I'm sure he is screaming at me in his mind. I just whisper "sorry" and curl up and pretend to sleep.

~o~

I wake up very early, it's still dark and I can hear Huilen and Dermott quietly discussing the situation Mom is in. They're both eager to hear from her again; wishing there was more we could do and hoping that she listens to her power above all else.

Huilen wonders out loud, "Do you think they are letting her feed from animals?"

"I'm not sure. I hope so for her sake, I don't want her to have to live with the guilt," Dermott answer softly. I had never even thought about that. Mom will be distraught if she has to kill a human, let alone feed from them until she gets to come back to us. "She shouldn't have to hunt yet as long as they are keeping away from humans other than at feeding times."

"That's true. How do you think that two of them are controlling four newborns? I can't imagine just you and I with more than one newborn let alone four," Huilen states.

"Well, we know that one of them is a tracker maybe the other one has a power that Renée doesn't know about yet. She just needs to play nice until she can get away from them safely. Or maybe when the rescue mission is over, he won't care about her leaving afterwards." He mummers

"The Rescue Mission yeah right! I just hope that they're not planning to start wars in the South. If they are the Volturi would certainly show up eventually, and Renée can't be around for that." I can't listen to them come up with any more bad scenarios. I get out of bed a bit louder than normal and make my way into the bathroom to start my morning.

Many hours and almost two thousand dollars' worth of camping gear that we don't really need later; we're still in the mall getting "more weather appropriate clothing." Not that the weather bothers us, we have to look the part, and it's very cold at night in the mountains. This is the second set of camping gear we have bought in a year. We donated everything we had after we left the Grand Canyon because we had plans of only staying in Hotels and B&B's for the rest of our trip. Plans change and Zora was all too happy to buy all new stuff. She is not happy about having to put all of her beloved high fashion clothing and shoes into a rented storage unit near the airport until it's time to fly out. However, with each of us only taking only one backpack she has to make do.

Nate is barely speaking to me. Although he has asked me to read his mind several times I have refrained. I don't want to hear how disappointed he is with me I know I messed up.

Suddenly three vampire sparks show up in the edge my shield they are moving quickly towards us. I have two new powers shoved in my mind. I unlock Edwards's mind reading to see who they are and where they are headed. I'm searching frantically for their mental voices, and projecting everything in my mind at Nate.

He quickly tells everyone that he wants to run into HHGreg for replacement batteries for the laptops and drags me away from the others.

"Focus hard Isa, push Edward's power right at those sparks."

I want to scream at him that I'm doing everything I can. I'm trying to shut down the new powers and stretch Edward's power further than ever before.

"OK – OK, wrap up the new ones first but don't lose the sparks," he mumbled.

I try to what he say's but can't get one of the powers to stop its hard and I can't control them all at once. I stop projecting, so I can try to get the powers under control.

I can't focus my eyes and Nate's voice fades from my ears. I can feel him shake me but can't respond.

.

.

Thanks for reading & please send reviews they mean the world to me! I'll send you a pre-view if you review.

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I'm also looking for a good read for the weekend if you have any suggestions, let me know!

I need your **help**, I am really trying to improve my writing so if you see a mistake let me know so I can fix it and try not to make it anymore.

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_

**_2/1/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	25. when it rains it pours

_**Chapter 25 – When it rains it pours**_

_**N – P.O.V.**_

I lay wide-awake, waiting for the sun to rise and thinking over the past seven days.

After only a week in the Olympic National Forest we are all frustrated with the constant rain, the stress of the situation with Renée, the close quarters, and being in what seems like a high traffic zone for vampires. The bickering has become our new family pass time. Isa has become increasingly withdrawn. She is staying out of our squabbles and not interacting with any of us unless she can't avoid it.

Each night we run a perimeter of the park because Dermott smelled vampire trails our first night here. I know it's useless, but can't say anything. Isa and I are the only ones we know that we are in the Cullen territory, or what was Cullen territory until they left for Alaska the day we arrived. We have counted nine different scents. I'm sure that one of the extras belongs to the male in Seattle. We only have one that is unaccounted for, but again only Isa and I know that.

I hate not telling the rest of the family what we know but I can't come up with a way to tell them without telling them about Isa' powers. She is still refusing to use any powers other than her own and her mother's for the time being. I'm pretty sure she was as scared as I was when she picked up her new powers. Alice's premonitions and Jasper's ability to sense and manipulate emotions overwhelmed her quickly while she had all of her other power 'on.'

When she was pulled into Alice's vision, I honestly thought she was going to pass out or that her mind could not handle everything at once. However, when the vision passed she was fine. She pulled all the powers into her inner shield and shut them down quickly.

She explained to me how the vision took over, and forced her to focus on the vision alone. She said it did not feel the way it looked in Alice's mind. We both think it was because she was concentrating so hard on the three unknown sparks that it forced the vision. She calmly told what she saw from Alice's power and heard from Edward's, but refused to use Zafrina's power to show me.

Alice and Jasper had followed an unknown male vampire from Forks into the city. They allowed him to slip away into his hideaway, pretending they could not find him. Then when they were sure he would overhear them Alice mentioned meeting everyone else in Denali. The unknown vampire was thrilled that he overheard them and was planning to set off that night to pass along what he had found.

I was surprised Isa seemed happy that the Cullen's were not staying in Washington. Before everything that happened at the Grand Canyon she wanted to find a way to meet them while we were here. When I asked her about it she just shrugged and told me we had too much going on without adding anything or anyone else to the mix.

Garrett informed Isa that all of the Cullen's had arrived safely in Alaska and everything seemed fine. The only reason I know about the latest email is because he CC'ed me knowing I was the only one other than her that had any knowledge about the problems the coven was having. I also think that he wanted me to read her heartfelt apology and him telling her that she did nothing wrong. It was clear from his email that he felt she had warned him that he could be in a dangerous situation. He also sent me a text,

"_N - Remember she just a kid, a really smart kid but just a kid. She finally saw a way to do some about something that had been bothering her for months; she took it you really can't blame her. - Garrett "_

He was right on both counts but I still hate that she hid it from me; it's not like her. I must have underestimated how much the situation with the Cullen's was bothering her.

We were all troubled by the "Renée situation". Of course it hit Isa harder than then rest of us, but refused to speak about "what if's." Renée called from a pay phone our first night here, and spoke briefly with Dermott while us hybrids were sleeping. Their plan was that each night Isa would turn off her phone for Renée to leave a voice mail and would only call Dermott in an emergency. She needed to be fast when giving us information and did not want to risk the distraction of actually speaking with us. Voice mail was Dermott's answer and now each morning we got new a new voicemail. She has not found out much yet but seems to be making progress.

"_The newborns are being controlled by lies and death threats. They believe all the typical myths about vampires. The leaders keep us in basements during the day and threaten to toss them out into the sunlight if they get too noisy. He also tracks down anyone who runs and brings their head back to show the others before he burns it. They sent me hunting with Adam, one of the newborns; I was able to get some information from him. They're all from the Calgary area and they started south sixteen days ago. Adam and Warren have no powers but the other two newborns do. When Dean screams it stuns anyone in front of him, if you are behind him you hear him but nothing happens. Adam says it's only last twenty-seconds but is very painful. Sara stays with the leader's mate and can turn invisible. She can't control it, she flashes in and out of sight a lot when the others argue or she gets thirsty. Riley used to watch them when the leaders left but he was sent to spy the coven that kidnapped the leader's friend about six weeks ago. He used to come back to Calgary and check in with the leaders very few days. Adam has not seen him since before they started moving south. From Adams description he didn't sound like a newborn, but I'm not sure. I told the leaders I was abandoned by my maker because I can't drink human blood. They made me watch them feed to prove it. I focused on making a really bad choice and doubled over in discomfort while they fed. They will let me hunt if I take a newborn with me and have them hunt a few human as well. We're in Roswell, New Mexico, tonight. I miss and love you."_

During yesterdays she spoke so fast we had to listen to it three times before we caught it all. I hope she more information for us this morning, each day they get a bit longer and more informative.

I hear Isa wake up and almost silently leave the tent. I follow after her. She gives Huilen and Dermott a wave before darting up a nearby tree. Huilen shakes her head sadly then kisses Dermott's cheek before following after Isa. We sit together soundlessly hearing parts of the whispered conversation from above.

"I wish she would open up to one of us," Dermott says softly.

I shrug, "She will when she's ready."

Zora steps out of the tent and rolls her eyes.

"We can't help her, if she won't let us," Zora sates.

Isa drops out of the tree, landing next to Dermott.

"Look, I'm trying alright. Nothing any of you can say will make me feel any better. Nothing, but a voicemail telling us she is on her way will bring me any comfort." She then pulls her phone out dialing her voice mail and putting it on speaker for all of us to hear.

"_Last night we only made it about sixty miles before Sara tried to escape. She is now missing her left forearm – the male leader won't give it back to her till she needs it. He didn't kill her because of her power, I think. While the leaders ran after her it gave me a chance to talk with the others. We have no plan but have all agreed to work together to make it out of this somehow. I told them as much of the truth as I could while the others were gone. Love you."_

We played it twice before anyone said anything.

"Well, at least she has some help now." Zora says carefully.

"Trust her power," Isa mutters a few times under her breath. "Yeah - as long as they don't turn on her it's a very good thing."

"I also think it's a positive sign that they didn't kill Sara. It could be for her power but it may be because they need the numbers." Dermott says.

"I can't believe the sick-O it keeping her arm. That's so gross," Zora says while shivering at the thought of it.

Isa inhales sharply and dashes into the tent. She comes back out with her music blaring through her headphones and disappears up a tree.

"Try not to highlight the danger that Renée is in. None of us want to think of her being around someone like that and comments like that won't help any of us," Huilen snapped.

A few hours pass before Isa returns. Zora starts to apologize but Isa rolls her eyes and says; "It's not like you didn't say what we were all thinking. I'm fine really."

When Isa says, "I'm fine" we all know she is anything but. Isa' phone rang loudly in the heavy silence that followed her nonchalant comment. She answered quickly with a small frown.

"Hey Manuel, thanks for getting back to me so fast."

"No problem, I read over all the information on the website you sent. I'm not sure what to tell you. I can't believe they put these stories online for the world to see if they are still changing. But they may not even know it's out there, it's not an official Quileute site. If they are real, they're not werewolves they are Nagual."

Everyone was paying close attention to the phone call.

"Yeah, I assumed that. The stories are way too close to reality when they are describing vampires and shifting." Isa said, then waved Zora over to her and pulling up the site for us on Zora's phone.

"I'm going to call the Council and ask some questions. I doubt they will admit anything over the phone but at least I'll give them a heads up that their story is online. At the very least they need to edit the stories to make them less reality based." Manuel huffed.

"Let me know what you find out. I doubt it will be much," Isa tells him.

"Yeah you all be careful, it sounds like they have forgotten they are protectors not just vampire hunters. I email you whatever I find. Stay safe Isa." Manuel says as he ends the call.

"I must say the site you found is rather informative. This is the kind if thing that would bring the Volturi to the area to investigate further." Dermott told us after scrolling through the pages.

"As long as we are long gone before that happens it's not our problem." Zora mumbles.

"They have too many unknown facts to have guessed. Whoever put this up has firsthand knowledge. The reservation is forty miles from here and I'm not sure how far out they come. I just want to know if we are going to come across them," Isa states.

Huilen looks to Dermott and says, "I don't like any of it, even if they have a treaty with some vampires that won't mean anything for us."

"Maybe we should find a new place to wait for Renée there is another land preserve east of Seattle. We would still be close to the airport if we needed it." I say. I hadn't really given any thought to the "Wolves" the Cullen's thought about but clearly Isa had. I wonder if she knows something and is using this as a way out or if this was just her way of giving everyone a heads up. We haven't smelled anything odd on our patrols but I'd rather not find out the hard way. I signal Isa to read me. I'm not sure if she does but she projects a message for me. I smile big when I see her in my mind,

_She's__ standing with her arms crossed and rolling her eyes at me on a sunny beach._

"_I don't know anything. I just came across the info and thought better safe than sorry. Edward thought about the increased number of them being a threat. If they can threaten seven vampires they have a treaty with, then they are a threat to us as well."_

"I'm all for that; let's pack our stuff and 'hike' out of here. We can stay in a hotel in Port Angeles for the night. We can sleep in a real bed, take a nice hot shower and watch some TV, and then tomorrow we can drive elsewhere. Oh - we need to get our laundry done too." Zora tells us merrily. Isa and Huilen nod in agreement.

"Ok let's pack up our stuff and get moving then."

We make our way into Port Angeles and check into our Hotel. After our showers we head out because Zora wants Ice cream and to check out the shops. Derm and Huilen go off in a different direction from us to "sniff around," so I'm stuck with the girls. Zora drags Isa in shop after shop; I walk further down the block to a bookstore. I'm browsing the books, even though it's not my kind of store, when my phone chimes with a new email.

_Nahuel –_

_I hope you are still in North America. He gave us longitude and latitude coordinates this time. He wants Serena there within the week, so she will be there well before the birth. I'm delaying her flight and giving her as many layovers as I can. If you can go you need to go soon. He dropped her off in the middle of nowhere in a cabin with food and water. She is in the Northwest Territories of Canada, 65.937514, -115.235596. Serena won't leave till tomorrow afternoon, and won't make it there till late the next day. She will be on foot coming in from the west._

_Cover your tracks well and Good luck._

_Jennifer_

Shit, it sounds like a lost cause but I have to try. I can get to Seattle and fly out within two hours if I hurry.

_**Nate we could use your help!**_

Isa projects her mind into mine suddenly. She and Zora are standing in front of a shop with two Indian teens talking to Zora. It's what the older one is thinking that has Isa nervous.

_They are both covered in Vampire scent. It's not the Cullen's or the other ones we smelled recently. Strange heart beats. They don't smell human. I need to Phase and get the pack up here._

I hurry towards them as fast as I dare. Isa is panicking now that he wants to get the rest of his Pack, and Zora is just enjoying the attention.

_Shit here comes another one. I wonder how many they have. What are these things?_

"Hey, if we are going to make the movie we better get moving," I say as calmly as I can. I'm trying to give Zora a look that says play along.

"Oh! There you are, come on, let's go everyone will be waiting," Isa chimes in excitedly while pulling on Zora's hand.

Confusion flashes on Zora's face, but she covers it quickly. Glancing at her watch she mumbles "Crap." Then she smiles brightly at the older one and says, "Right, we got go. It was nice meeting you Jake!"

We rush off at a fast human pace, "What was that about Nahuel? What I can't talk to cute guys now?" Zora huffs. I have no clue if she is playing dumb or not.

"Hurry up! We have to meet _Manuel_ and I don't want to miss the start," Isa chats happily. At the mention of Manuel Zora's eyes widen.

"Send a text to them and see if they bought our tickets – they can wait inside." I tell Zora.

The rest of our walk is quiet and quick. The younger Nagual is following us but has fallen back now that we are close to our destination. We rush into the movie theater. I whisper to them that we need to sneak out the back while buying three tickets for a movie that just started. I pull out my phone and text Huilen to meet us back at the entrance to the Olympic Forest with the car and our stuff.

Thankfully it's an old theater with windows in the bathroom and we sneak out immediately. I pull Isa onto my back then we scale the wall to the roof. We silently jump from roof to roof before dropping into an alleyway. We take off at full speed, and are quickly out of the urban area.

"Nahuel, how did you know what they were?" Zora asks.

"I smelled the difference, didn't you? They're both shifters." I did smell them once I was close but I would not have noticed without Isa' telling me.

"No, I wasn't really thinking about it." She mused.

"They watched us in two stores before they approached." Isa told us.

A full minute passes before I hear something running after us. I cock my head to signal Isa to listen. She projects the mind of the younger one following us and he is in Wolf form. I hear the minds of many other wolves as well but they're nowhere near us for the time being. He is gaining on us quickly. In his mind I hear that he has no idea what to do if he catches us. He knows we're not vampires. The other wolves are running at full speed from the reservation and they want answers.

"He's gaining on us. If he confronts us, you two run to Huilen and Dermott." Isa pinches me hard and Zora gasps.

"We're not leaving you!" yells Zora. Isa reminds me that her shield is covering all three of us, but Huilen and Dermott are still out of range.

"I'll be right behind you I just don't want him on your heels. You two get up into the trees now. I'll slow him a bit and you guys keep moving." I feel Isa shift then spring off my back.

"Now Aurora, we don't have time for this! I'm right behind you, just get a head start, and then I'll jump up as well."

She looks torn but leaps into the trees after Isa. I slow down and drift further from our trail. I put about a half mile between my sisters and myself; the young wolf is still on my trail. I focus on the thoughts Isa' projecting, she has Edwards power picking up everyone now, humans and wolves alike. Hearing so many thoughts at once was a bit overwhelming; I don't notice the new thoughts until I hear Isa' mind scream at me.

"**Peters tracking me and ready to attack. He thinks we are the reason the Cullen's are gone!"**

_**E- P.O.V.**_

Garrett seems like a friendly enough guy, but he is hiding something. When we first reached Denali he was happy to talk with Carlisle for hours about anything and everything. The only time he hid his mind was when Carlisle asked why he changed his diet. I got a quick flash of the forest, the sound of a heart, it beats once, and then it was gone. He focused on the words he was saying and nothing more. He pushed the memory out of his mind purposefully.

Jasper assures me he is truly mated with Kate and that his emotions show nothing to be concerned about. Jasper agrees that he is a bit on edge, there is some underlining stress, but I can't see what it's about. Every day he runs out of my range his thoughts center on checking emails and listening to voice mails. Why he keeps his phone off, I'm not sure. He always leaves feeling hopeful and returns a bit sad but very determined. Kate told me he has done the same thing every day since they met when I asked her about it.

"He's just talking to friends Edward. You don't need to worry about him."

"Why can't he do it here?"

"You may not have noticed cause you can hear his mind but he never says anyone's name when he tells a story or is talking about something. It's like the opposite of gossip; you hear this great story but have no idea who it's about. He doesn't trust the Volturi and Eleazar by association." She sees the whole thing as just part of who he is and because he has always done it. I guess it has nothing to do with my family.

"I'm sure you're right. It's just that after what happened with Laurent last time has everyone worked up and not in the most trusting of moods." I tell her.

"I don't know why Irina puts up with him," she growls. "Or why he is still here. She must be bored with him by now."

I chuckled, "She's getting there."

My thoughts drift to the young brown-haired girl with beautiful eyes and a smile that could brighten the darkest night. Isa invades my mind daily. No matter how much I try to push thoughts of her, Zora, the unnamed boy and the golden-eyed vampire out of my head, Isa' always there. I spend hours wondering what she is, who she is, but mostly I hope she is safe and happy like in the boy's thoughts.

"Edward," Alice smirks at me, "come hunting with Garrett, Jasper and I." I raise an eyebrow in question; I thought that Peter and Charlotte were showing up soon.

"_Yes, yes they are, but we need to meet them or things could get ugly. Besides you will never get a chance to see what you will see in their minds if I don't take you. Just don't lose your head it'll be fine."_

Then she blocks me by listing her shoes in from most to least expensive, I'll never understand her obsessions. I nod curtly and follow them out the door.

As soon as we are out of hearing range Garrett asks. "So what's up? I'm thinking this is more than just a friendly hunting trip."

"Well, you know about my visions. I had one of you and our guest that will be arriving shortly causing a fair amount of damage to the house. Having you meet them out here had a better outcome." Alice states while she's still blocking me.

Garrett's mind explodes thinking of who it could be, the amount of vampires he knows is staggering.

"Who's coming? What did you see?" Jasper asks.

"Well, I wanted to surprise you. Charlotte called to asking where we were yesterday. I told her, she said he would see us soon and hung up before I could say anything else."

"Peter, Peter Perfect and Char are coming? Why would I have a problem with them? I saw them like a week ago. . ." He freezes mid sentence, mid thought and mid stride. He snarls viciously but it's not aimed at any of us. "Where did he call from?" He's really trying to block his thoughts now; he just keeps reciting phone numbers in his head.

Alice's eyes go wide; she did not see this coming. "I don't know. Like I said she hung up before I could get a word in edgewise."

"Give me your phone," he snapped at Alice. Jasper lets out a warning rumble and Alice tosses the phone at him. He flashes about ten yards away from us and starts to pace.

"Shit – she called from her phone. I'll kill his paranoid ass," He mumbles under his breath. He uses her phone to call someone. Whomever he called, did not answer. He is still trying hard to block me but I keep getting flashes of a cave. He tries again but from his phone and it goes to voicemail, the kind that just says the number you have called. . .

"Isabella Marie – if I don't hear from one of you in the next ten minutes I'm coming to find you. Call me back!" He yells into the phone. The waves of fear, love and stress that Jasper feels from Garrett are so strong he can barely contain them. Garrett calls several other numbers leaving messages to call him at once. He glares at me and saying,

"I don't know if I can trust you or not. If the wrong people find out about what you see in my head I will hunt you down!"

Then he stops blocking me, his mind becomes a whirlwind of memories. It starts slowly,

_. . "You should watch who you growl at, little girl. I find you amusing but not many others of my kind would. Why are you hiding in a tree? Being up there can't save you from the likes of me." He snickers out. "I know what you are vampire and I am not hiding in this tree. Nor do I need any help begin saved from the likes of you." She hisses at furiously. She is too cute, with her long brown hair, big oddly colored eyes and angry glare. She reminds of a kitten my sister had growing up. . ._

_. . . "Hi guys this is Garrett. Garrett this is my family, Renée, Dermott, Huilen, Nahuel and Aurora." She said with a big smile and pointed each of them. . ._

They come so fast I can hardly keep up. But he slows down to the last time he saw them.

_. . . "Ok just remember no questions." She blushed, bright red. I had to hold back my laughter as I nodded. "Can you go to Alaska? See I heard some stuff that, I, never mind it's . . . Someone you know needs help. I can't help them but you can. If you go to Alaska I know you'll find out." What she said made no sense to me, she doesn't know anyone that I do except Peter and Char, but I told her I would do whatever she needed. "Alright, Alaska's kinda big any chance you could narrow it down a bit for me?" I ask somewhat hesitantly. Although the idea of a goose chase across Alaska is not so bad. "Yup, Denial National Park south-west corner! Ok, this is the really odd part, you can't think about any of us till you know who's there." I'm looking at her like she has lost her mind. "Remember no questions, but I swear you're going to like what you find." "Alright Kitten - when do I leave?" I ask, with a big smile. "Just like that you'll do it?" I nod. Her smile is biggest and brightest I have ever seen. "Thank you, thank you so much! I can even let the Kitten thing slide. Go whenever you want, sooner is better than later but I'm just so happy you'll go," She says while giggling and hugging me tight. Even with the others fighting in the background she looks so happy. . ._

I gasp loudly, "She sent you here? You know them?" The questions tumble out of my mouth before I can stop them.

Garrett eyes me carefully he about to answer but Jasper interrupts, "Who sent him? And Why?" He drops into an offensive crouch ready to pounce at Garrett.

Garrett gives me a hard look thinking, _"We'll talk later"_ and turns to face Jasper. "Yes, I was sent here but I didn't know why. I thought she sent me here to meet Kate but really it was to help you all." Jasper is still suspicious.

"You didn't say who _she_ is." Jasper hisses.

"Isabella – she and the others were here at Christmas. She overheard that you guys could be in trouble. She knows I know Carlisle and sent me to help with whatever is going on," Garrett huffs.

"You think I'll believe that a vampire got close enough to over hear us but we did not know they were there," Jasper scoffs.

_Don't say anything about the not a vampire part, it's not your story._

"Here read her email – that's all I know. Edward can tell you from my thoughts that she was upset and wanted to find a way to help you." I nod because Isa had basically begged him to come here.

He tosses his phone at Jasper. Alice and I crowd around Jasper to read the email.

Isa email is absolute proof that she knows about our problem with James and Victoria. She even mentioned not to trust Laurent.

"She knows Peter and Charlotte? Why would they check on us just because she would be in Washington?" Jasper asks confused wonder why they would check just because some vampires were in our territory.

"Look – Peter did not like them too much. They are a large family almost as big as yours. We all know that Peter can be paranoid. You'll have to ask him why he came. But after I find out why they called from her phone!"

"_Isa can take me down; I think she could handle herself with Peter. But Zora's got a smart mouth and can't fight. As long as he did not approach them alone they'd be fine. I bet he was in rare form finding them rather than the Cullen's in the_ _Olympic Forest. Of all the places for Renée to pick. . ."_

"You're joking right?" I have to ask. He shakes his head no. _"It's not my secret to tell. I don't even know what they are, only who they are. Don't go snooping around in my head and don't ask questions. It's not safe for you or them. Although I would like to know how you recognized them." _He tells me and goes back to trying not to think of them.

"Garrett, I just want to let you know in my vision you attack Peter, but you're both back to friendly later that day. So I'm sure Isabella and her family is fine." Alice says kindly.

"Thanks Alice, but they have two minutes and fourteen seconds to call me back or I won't be here to attack Peter." Garrett mumbles while pacing back and froth.

"I hear them now, they aren't thinking about your friends, just finding Jasper." I tell Garrett.

Peter and Charlotte rush into the clearing stopping just a few yards away from us. I can hear Garrett is trying to keep calm but hen the wind shifts blowing their scent's towards. The only thought in Garrett mind is that Peter smells of Isabella. He lounges straight at Peter, catching him off guard and has him by the throat.

"Why do you smell like her? DID YOU PUT YOUR HANDS ON HER?" Garrett yells in shocked Peters face.

Charlotte answers while cracking up. "Please Garrett - you were right he could barely touch that little monster, but that didn't stop her from slapping him around a bit."

Jasper mind keeps replaying the "little monster" comment.

Garrett released Peter, shoving him back a few paces and hisses at Charlotte. "Watch your mouth Char, that's my family."

"What? It's not everyday I see something that looks a seven-year old kid kickin' Peter's ass. What else should I call her?" Charlotte is still laughing but stopped short when Jasper whimpers. "Immortal Child."

"NO!" everyone yells. At the same time as Jasper turns to run out of the clearing, following the path Peter and Charlotte just came from.

.

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**_2/6/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	26. all bark and no bite

**_Chapter 26 – All bark and no bite_**

**_B-P.O.V._**

Peter's hands held me so tightly, as we crashed to the forest floor, that he would have crushed me without my shield. Using my shield to loosen his hold I kicked him off of me sending him back fifteen yards and jump to my feet. He came at me almost instantly; I dogged left at the last possible moment. He missed me by a centimeter at most. He stayed close and as we circled each other. Charlotte was standing twenty yards out watching us intently and Zora was approaching quickly. He lunged again grabbing my right wrist with his left hand; I moved to my right and used his momentum to throw him towards Charlotte. He spun around and charge at me, but stopped short when he heard Zora drop out of the tree next to Charlotte. I used his distraction to my advantage and jumped on his back. Then pushed him to the ground and flipped off him to land on the other side of Charlotte.

"What the hell is going on here?" Zora shrieked as Peter stood and evaluated us. He didn't like us so close to his mate. He knew we could get to her before he could.

"Step away from her," he growled at us. I nodded and flashed to Zora's side then we backed away slowly.

"Why are you attacking Bella?" Zora hissed at Peter.

"She ran," he snarled. We were still closer to Charlotte than he was, he wanted to move towards her but was afraid we would reach her first.

"We weren't running from you!" Zora barked.

"Then what?" Charlotte asked while eyeing us closely.

"The Wolves!" Zora snapped. With that statement Peter flashed in front of his mate in a defensive crouch. He no longer considered us the biggest threats to her and we were both on the defensive.

"Why are they passed the border? Where are the Cullen's?" he asked suspiciously.

"We don't know. We saw two of them in human form in Port Angeles they followed us, so we took off into the woods. One of them followed us in wolf form we split up to make it harder to track us. We don't know the Cullen's or where they are, we haven't met anyone new here," Zora answered relaxing slightly. Nate was getting closer, he still had the wolf on his trail but we couldn't hear them yet.

"This is Cullen territory. They should be here for at least a few more years." Peter said and Charlotte nodded in agreement, both looking skeptical.

"I don't know what to tell you. We haven't seen them or smelled the fresh scent around. If they should be here and aren't it has nothing to do with us," Zora answered in a questioning tone.

"Just call them," I said. "Here, use my phone." I tossed my phone to Charlotte. She snatched out of the air and dialed quickly.

"Where are you?" Charlotte asked before whomever answered get say anything.

"Denali, we . . ." Alice started to speak but Charlotte spoke over top of her.

"We'll see you soon." She ended the call and tossed the phone back to me.

"See they're fine," Charlotte said to Peter, Just as the sounds of Nate and the wolf came into hearing range, Peter and Charlotte both stiffened.

"Let's go." Charlotte whispered, and then they were gone.

Zora sighed loudly. "Shit - that was crazy. Why the hell did he come after you like that, my god?"

"Who knows? We should get going. Although, I don't really like that we're leading the Wolves towards Derm and Huilen." I mutter as we leaped back into the trees.

As we soar from tree to tree, I concentrate on the minds of the wolves. They are all connected like Hector and the other Jaguars. I hear a total of sixteen minds even though Seth is the only one in the radius of Edwards's power. Six have stayed to defend the Reservation; eight are still making their way towards us. Seth is following Nate as he zigzags' his way towards Zora and I, and Jacob is gaining on them fast. They have no clue what we are but are on the offensive because we "reek of Bloodsucker." I really don't want them near Dermott and Huilen, with the Cullen's gone the Wolves have taken over Washington. They have orders to kill any vampire they set eyes on. Two members of the tribe were killed last week by the vampire I saw with Alice's power. We can't let them find Dermott and Huilen. Nate is hearing the same thing I am, his mind looking to find a way to stop Dermott and Huilen from coming to us. He pulls out his phone, still running at full speed and send's them a text.

_Leave our stuff. Take to the water and meet us in Victoria, ASAP. – N_

He has stopped zigzagging now and is coming straight towards us now. Zora and I have just reached the area where we are supposed to meet Huilen and Dermott. When Nate texts us as well,

_Don't mention H or D, they're not coming. When we talk to the wolves follow my lead and keep quiet. I'll see you soon. – N_

As we read it Zora's mind goes into overdrive, wondering how many wolves are in the area and we are going to make it out of this alive. She becomes very conflicted, torn between wishing Huilen and Dermott were with us and being happy they aren't.

The six wolves running from the Reservation cross Peter and Charlotte's trail, the Alpha order four to follow them. He is determined to keep the number in their favor; two wolves per vampire or whatever we are.

Zora and I stay perched high in a tree and listened as Nate and his follower approached us. Nate dashed up the same tree as us, sitting on a lower branch but still out of the reach of the wolf below. Seth circled the tree startling slightly when Zora and I drop down onto the same branch as Nate. I heard Nate's plan and nodded for him to try it, I got a good enough feeling from his choice.

"We know what you are and we know that your pack members can hear us through your mind. We mean no harm to you or your tribe, but can and will defend ourselves if need be. Have one of your members shift so we can talk or let us leave in peace."

The other wolves growled at Nate's words but were wondering how we knew what they are. Nate pointed to the ground and then dropped out of the tree. Zora grabbed my hand shrugging and we followed him. Seth backedup a few paces, snarling as he went. The minds of the others went wild and Jacob doubled his effort to reach Seth.

"We won't attack him, only defend ourselves but keep in mind that you are the ones that followed us while having no clue what we are," Nate snarled. I stretched out my shield and pick their spark up about four-miles out and Jacob was just crossed the two-mile mark.

"We know a lot more about you than you know about us. If you attack us, I can promise some of you won't ever make back to La Push. See the small one with me she just sent off the vampires, I'm sure you smelled them on your way to find us. If she can do that what do you think the three of us can do?" Jacob entered the clearing growling loudly. He stood taller than Seth and was deep rust color compared to Seth sandy brown.

"Jacob, it's nice of you to join us." Nate mocked and Zora's grip on my hand tighten further. All the wolves were stunned that we knew his name, I almost snort at the shocked looks on the wolves' faces. Nate causally pushed off the tree he was leaning on.

"You see we know others of your kind, Naguals, skin-walkers, shape shifters or whatever you want to call yourselves. But your website claims your werewolves, which I can promise you're not. I believe you got a call about the website this morning.

"You see we're taking a road trip and split off from some of our family. The Olympic Forest is just a meeting spot for us we can move on if that's what you'd like since we were already planning to. We were Port Angeles this evening for just that reason, but then you approached us and followed us. The only reason we ran, was to get out of the town, we wouldn't want to risk exposure after all. I know how hard it can be for a young shifter to remain in control." He said the last sentence tauntingly. The wolves' minds revolved around a woman named Emily who had been hurt by one of them.

"You see there are rules in the supernatural world and the reason we were planning on leaving town was because of the website I mentioned. Folklore, Myths and Tribal legends is one thing, but to put facts about things humans have no business knowing about online for the world to see, that draws attention. Attention, like that can be deadly. We did our part by contacting your tribal council hoping they take care of it. We wanted to get out of the area just in case we weren't the first to come across that site, none of us want to be around if someone comes to pass judgment on you."

As Nate wraps up his dramatic speech the rest of the wolves appear. The Alpha, a huge black wolf, tries to stare us down but we showed no fear. His speech made us out to be stronger than Vampires and now we play the part. Nate nods at the large black wolf and says.

"Alpha, have someone phase out so we can talk. We will answer _some_ of the questions you may have."

The Alpha nods towards Jacob, then ducks behind a tree and reemerged as a human. He stands about six-foot two with short black hair and tanned skin. He approaches us carefully with a wolf on either side of him stopping ten feet away.

"Hello, I am Nahuel." He raises and extends his hand at full speed not bothering with human pretenses. The Alpha bobs his head but makes no move to shake Nate's hand. "Sam" is his curt reply.

"Well, you're the ones who tracked us down. What can I do for you?" Nate asks in a friendly tone.

"What are you?" Sam asks harshly.

"Sorry, that's not something I can't answer," Nate tells him.

"Where are the vampires you traveled with?"

"They left the area."

"And you will follow them?" Nate only nods in response.

"These Rules you speak of, who enforces them?"

"The Volturi, they are a group of extremely gift vampires. They would massacre anyone and anything in a twenty-mile radius for what has been revealed on that site. They have many talents that would render you useless," Nate answers firmly.

Sam scoffs. "Maybe you would be useless, but we were born to defend our lands from the Cold Ones."

"So, you can stop a vampire whose talent will have you deaf, blind and frozen in place, I highly doubt that. Vampires only have one law keep the secret, when broken it's a death sentence for anyone involved. Your kind was not born to kill vampires you were born to protect your people and your land. If I'm not mistaken your tribes first wolf turned because he was betrayed by someone from within your tribe. It wasn't vampires that started the magic that transforms you." The wolves growled loudly, Sam raised his hand and they stopped.

"We aren't here to debate our origins or what purpose we serve."

"Why are we here? You consider yourselves as vampire hunter yet followed us out here and you know we aren't vampires." Nate irritation is starting to show.

"They followed you because you were covered in vampire scent, it wasn't the Cullen's, scent and we needed to know what the threat was. You were followed in hopes that you would lead us to them," Sam stated firmly.

"Well, as I said they left the area and even if they didn't they are no threat to the humans. They don't drink human blood."

"We were under the impression that was a rarity among vampires." Nate only nods

"So, they left the area already and you are leaving as well?" Again Nate just bobbed his head in agreement. They just stood looking at each other for a moment, before Nate spoke up.

"You should really take care of the website you don't want that type of trouble it's going to bring. Also, we were meeting another vampire here in the forest, we will try to contact her before she shows up but if you see a Golden-eyed female she is just looking for us, she is not a threat. We would be grateful if you let her pass."

"We will keep that in mind," Sam conceded.

"I know Manuel told your elders that you could contact him if you had questions or wanted more information about your kind, you should consider it. We will be on our way now." With that Nate turned his back to them a flashed to Zora's side. He pointed upwards; Zora and I darted up the tree with Nate on our heels. We were hidden from the sight of the wolves below almost immediately.

Our false bravado sold our lie; they assumed we would beat them in a fight even with the numbers stacked in their favor. We left behind stunned six stunned shape shifters that believed they found something stronger than the average vampire and that we called the tribal council to help them.

We traveled through the woods in silence. I stopped my mind to Nate when the wolves we out the range of Edwards power. We found the abandoned rental car and made our way out of Port Angeles before Zora exploded.

"What the hell was that Nahuel? We could have been killed. You just lied to six HUGE wolves, you made it sound like . . . What would you have done if they attacked us? There was no way we could have defended ourselves! You shouldn't have told Huilen and Derm not to come."

"You're right and that's why I did what I did. We ran from them in Port Angeles and they came after us. We had nothing on our side and if they attacked us we would have been in a lot of trouble. So I made it seem like we had nothing to fear, that way they'd think twice. I figured the rest of them were coming and if Huilen and Dermott showed up they would have attacked right away. It was a no win situation, so I did my best, just be glad it worked," Nate barked at Zora. Then he took a deep breath and started over.

"Look, I know you were scared but it was the best I could do. Having Huilen and Dermott with us just would have made it worse. I used their lack of knowledge about us to our advantage it was the only way we could get the upper hand. I'm sorry we did not talk about it first, but we couldn't with the wolves in hearing range." Nate told her.

"I know you're right . . . it's just, I was so worried that they were going to kill us," Zora muttered.

"I know but we're all OK. We just have to get out of Washington and then we won't have to worry about them anymore."

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked.

"Canada is the fastest. We can call Derm and Huilen to let them know where to meet us. Then once we figure that out I have to make a trip out to Northwest Territories."

"What? Why? Can't we all go with you?"

"I came to get you guys because of an email Jennifer sent me. It seems Joham dropped a pregnant woman out in the middle of nowhere. He has Serena getting there before the due date. So I'll have to hurry, she'll be there in two days." Zora's shoulders fell with disappointment.

"We could come with you." I said softly. I saw Zora shaking her head no. I knew he wouldn't let us come with him but I hated the idea of him going alone. Zora had tried to come with him when he left to save Mom and me but no matter what augments she had tried he always said no.

"You know we can't risk Joham or Serena finding out about you two. I have to go alone," he said in a firm tone. Trying to end the conversation before it started. We had been through enough tonight; he did not need me adding to it, so I decided to let it go.

"Where in Canada are we going? I'll start looking up flights on my phone." She was clearly unhappy but trying to be as sportive possible.

"I think the closest Canadian airport is outside of Vancouver, Abbotsford or something like that. We should be there in about four hours if we make the ferry, six if not." Zora nodded and pulled her phone from her pocket.

"Shit! Nahuel I have fifteen missed calls from Huilen and Dermott! You better call her, this will be worse that when you snuck off to find Garr in the Grand Canyon," she giggled.

It seemed like days since we last saw them; but really it had only been two hours and half but somehow I didn't think that would matter to Huilen. I was right she answered the phone and began screaming at Nate at once. When she finally stopped talking over him Nate told our story down playing the incidents with Peter and the wolves. He told her where we were headed and asked that they meet us there. Then he regretfully told her about Jennifer's email and that he would be flying to the Northwest Territories. Huilen begged and pleaded for him not to go, she said that it would only bring him heartache. He of course said he had to try to be first flight out. He comforted Huilen for a while before he got off the phone.

Nate looked at me in the rearview mirror with questioning eyes. I thought about his choice to attempt to save the mother and child, but all I felt was indifference. I shrugged my shoulders at him and his shoulders slumped in defeat. He signaled me to read his mind,

_Try Alice's power; see if you find anything that may help._

I gave him a slight nod then concentrated on his spark under my shield. I unlocked her power and it pulled me in right away. Nate's future spun wildly, what planet would be chartered, where would he choose to land, would he go on foot or rent a vehicle. With so many possibilities I could find nothing about the mother and child. I wrapped up Alice's gift quickly, hating the way the visions made me feel almost foggy.

Then project my thoughts to explaining that he had too many choices left to make. Until he knew how he would get to her, I had no inkling of whether he would be able to save her or not?

Zora was watching me closely and asked. "You, OK back there Bella? You looked a bit dazed."

"Yeah, just tired," I lied

"It's not late enough for you to be sleepy. You sure it's not something else?" She tried again, looking less than convinced by my answer.

"I'm fine; it has been a long day I guess."

"Yeah, it has but it's more than that." She gazed at me distrustfully.

I did not respond. She was right it was more than that but I still wouldn't tell her. She muttered whatever and turned to face forwards in the front seat with a huff.

I close my eyes pretending to rest. I pulled my soft shield back so it only covered me. I focused solely on the soft music coming from the speakers then unlocked Alice's power; waiting for the visions to come to me. I had not worked with her power at all yet. I understood it mostly but the only times I used it was when I focused on someone under my shield. Doing that seemed to make the visions different than what I had seen in Alice's mind.

The visions that came were much less intrusive.

_The warm greetings we would receive from Huilen and Dermott._

_All of us at the airport in the early morning with Nate heading off on his own while the rest of us boarded a plan to Missoula, Montana. _

_Zora and I walking alone in the woods, "I hope they're right about this." She said looking down at me. "Check your powers and let me see," she said while smiling brightly._

The last one had no meaning to me, other than sometime soon Zora would know about my powers. She could have been talking about anything, and I did not recognize the woods around us. I only knew it would happen soon because I had not aged. I left Alice's power on for a while longer but no visions came to me. So I tried to "look" for them by concentrating on the person I wanted to see a vision of, my Mom.

_She was talking with two vampires, telling them to go into the woods to bury their kills. As they disappeared in the woods she ran back into the town to find a payphone. _

I shut off the power after that, mom was safe and that was all I needed to see. It brought a small smile to my face but did little to ease my fears; until she was back with us I would not be able to relax.

The rest of the night and the following morning played out just as I had seen in the visions. We listened to our message from Mom before we left the hotel; she did not have much to say.

"_Hey - we're outside of San Antonio. They sent me out with Dean and Warren tonight. It's the first time they ever let Dean with me, so I must be gaining their trust. I keep asking questions about who we are saving, but haven't gotten any answers yet. Love you."_

*~o~*

Once we arrived in Missoula we made our way to Lolo National Forest. We had to hike most of the day at human pace because there were so many humans around. We set up camp when the sunset, in the most secluded spot we could find. Then Huilen and Dermott left to run a perimeter check. Zora wanted to check in with Nate, whom had not heard anything from since we split up at the airport. So we rushed up the small Mountain hoping to get cell service. Our phones both chimed when we reach to top, we each had a distressed message from Garrett.

Zora called him while I sent Derm, Huilen and Nate a text saying that we're calling him back and not to worry.

**_E – P.O.V._**

Jasper fled with his mind centered on finding and destroying the Immortal Child. As he neared the edge of the clearing Alice is pulled into a vision of Jasper being crushed by an unseen force, it was the most shocking vision I have ever seen.

They immense pain and grief that Alice felt from seeing the visions had Jasper at her side seconds later.

"What is it Alice? What did you see?" he asked as he pulled her close. She sobbed into his chest while he rubbed her back comfortingly.

"You can't go," she cried. "You'll die."

Peter and Charlotte hissed loudly knowing he was headed towards Isa and her family. Garrett shrugged as if it were no big deal and said.

"I know that they have killed to protect their family before, if you choose to go after them they would fight back."

"I'll go to the Volturi then." The same vision flashed in Alice's mind, and her grief grew stronger having seen it a second time.

"No, you'll still die that changed nothing. You can't go. She's not what you think," Alice wailed.

"They're not what you think." Alice whispered over and over while Jasper tried to comfort her, but he still had not changed his mind.

Garrett phone rang loudly and he answered it before the first ring was complete. "Aurora, are you ok? Is everyone safe?"

"Yeah we're fine. Are you? Your message kinda freaked Bella and me out; we just got phone service."

"Sorry about that, I went a bit nut's when I found out Peter was with you guys. He didn't hurt Isa did he?" he murmured quietly as we all listened in on the conversation.

She snorted. "That ass tackled her in midair when we were trying to outrun the Wolves that were following us. . ." Alice, Jasper and let out soft growls and Peter hissed.

"Who are you with? That was more than just Peter and Charlotte?" she hissed at Garrett.

"I know; Peter, Char and Edward, Alice and Jasper Cullen can hear you. I'm going to have to tell them something, Char made a comment that made it sound like Isa was an Immortal Child."

"Great; that's just great! We haven't had enough problems lately! Renée's being held hostage by some sick'o; then we were chased by wolves, attacked by Peter, confronting six wanna be werewolves, Nate's run off in search of another one of us and now Charlotte is telling stories about us!" she wails, losing her composure. "I can't deal with this!" We can hear her crying as she passes the phone off.

"Garr?" a new voice whispers.

"It's going to be ok." He's looking towards Alice willing her to agree.

"Can't they hear our hearts through the phone? Show them pictures of us or something. This is a mess."

"Yeah – I know. Try holding the phone to your chest we should be able to hear it." We hear rustling then a very fast but steady heart rate.

"Can they hear it?" she asks in the background. We all nod and Garrett lets out a sigh.

"Yeah, we can."

"Good, so no one is coming after us or running to Italy?" Everyone nods in agreement. Jaspers mind can't understand what would have a heart rate like that, look like a seven-year old and could fight off Peter.

"Sorry Isabella, I thought they knew. After all Edwards a mind reader." Charlotte mummers thinking that she didn't really know them but she gave her word not to spread their story.

"It's fine, just please don't mention us to anyone else." Isa answers softly. We can still hear Aurora sniffing in the background.

"Ok, you may as well tell me everything that's going on. They all heard the recap from Zora anyway," Garrett says playfully.

"That's why text is better; no one can overhear you!" snaps Zora and we all snicker.

"Alright, what was the last Renée up date you got?"

"Names and Powers?" he says vaguely and Isa hums. Garrett's is hoping that she won't say too much, he is worried about Peter and Jaspers reaction. Renée is being held hostage by a small group of newborns that are heading south.

She starts to tell him about the last forty-eight hours beginning with messages from Renée. Jasper and Peter both asked for clarification as she spoke in as little detail as possible. She gave it begrudgingly, when talking about Renée. However, when Jasper asked who her shifter friend was and where they were.

"Look I don't know you and I'm not outing my friends. They are nothing like the wolves' and would leave you alone anyway cause your vegetarians. So don't worry about them." She snapped. Alice and Charlotte giggled at her. Charlotte thought of how Isabella's abruptness rubbed her the wrong way when they met. Now that she wasn't on the receiving end she enjoyed it particularly if it was aimed at Jasper.

After she snapped at Jasper she dove right back into the story without missing a beat. She downplayed what happen with Peter, I could see it in his and Charlotte's minds. They were both pleasantly surprised that she wasn't trying to get them in trouble with Garrett. When she got to the face off with the six wolves' it seemed that Zora could no longer handle the edited version she took her phone back and ranted to Garrett about what an 'ass' Nahuel was. She finished with a huff, we were all stunned that he basically tricked the wolves into thinking that the three of them could and would take out the whole pack if necessary. He also managed to make them seem like the good guys for warning them about the website and the Volturi.

"And just what were you telling me about him running off looking for others?" Garrett asked playfully he was happy that Zora was no longer crying.

"Oh he jumped . . ." Zora started.

"Don't" Isa hissed at the same time.

"Why not?" Zora scoffed.

"We don't know them! Don't tell them where he is when he is alone; you already said he was away looking for another one of us. That's more than enough information." Isa said softly.

"Whatever Bella, you always think you know everything. It's not like they are going to look for him or something. Garrett wouldn't let that happen." Zora barked back at her.

"You don't know that. It's just not worth the risk. . ." Zora interrupted her and they went back and forth a few times, before Garrett interrupted them both.

"Guys stop - Look I'll call Nate later if he wants to tell me what's up he can. How's that?" Garrett said trying to get them to stop, he saw both sides of the argument and hated when they fought.

"Yeah - you do that! Bye Garr." Zora said with false enthusiasm.

"What's your problem . . ." We heard Zora sneer at Isa before she hung up, we were all shocked by the venom in Zora voice.

"So, they aren't vampires but clearly are something supernatural. Tell me what you know!" Alice chirped at Garrett determined to get the information out of him. His mind was made up he was not sharing anything, and begging me not to say a word about what I had seen from his thoughts. Even with his mind I had no idea what they are.

"I don't know what they are, and I'm not trying to find out. Why do you care anyhow?" He said simply. Peter and Charlotte both agreed and would not say anything because they did not want to know. Jasper was absorbing Alice and mine' curiosity, and was trying to work it out based on the little information he had.

"I'll figure it out eventually," Alice simpered at Garrett, while her thoughts centered on different ways to find out just what they were. Isa was right not to tell us where Nate was looking for others like them because I'm not sure we could have stopped Alice from tracking him down.

"I wish you wouldn't try." He said, then thought for a moment and asked. "What was your vision of when Jasper was running away from here?"

Alice sucked in a ragged breath and shook her head back and forth.

.

**Thanks for reading! *****I'll send you a preview, if you review.* ****;)**

_**I was thinking of doing a flash forward for Valentines day let me know if you'ed be interested It would be E&B of course.**_

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_**

**_2/10/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	27. let it be known

**_Chapter 27 – Let it be known_**

**_B –P.O.V._**

"What's your problem Bella? You have no right to tell me what I can and can't say." Zora Sneered at me. She's right, I can't tell her what she can say but at the same time…

"When you put the rest of us in danger, I have the right." I say trying not to let her anger get to me.

"Garrett's with them do you really think he would let anything happen to us?" She huffs glaring at me.

"No, I don't but . . . just Garr against five vampires he couldn't stop them if he needed to. All my life Nate, Huilen and Derm have drilled into my head 'keep the secret' and 'we have to keep the family safe'. Well, Charlotte blabbed and Garr let others over hear your conversation but that doesn't mean we have to tell them anything, just that I'm not Immortal child. They could . . ."

"The others are right about you, you're paranoid! You act like such a know it all, and you don't know anymore than the rest of us. You talk to me like I'm some idiot; I know we have to keep the fucking secret! I just trust Garr to work it out with the Cullen's and Peter and Char already know we aren't vampires." I remember the _feelings_ that came when she started to tell them where Nate was, loss and grief. I won't apologize for stopping her it was the right thing to do.

"What? Nothing to say! You never say anything when things don't go your way. Nate or Derm even I sometimes have to stand up for you because you just shut up and then the rest of us are supposed to feel sorry for you or something! Tell me why the little know it all has no come back and can never fight her own battles."

"I don't want to fight with you, Zora." I mutter.

"You're no different from the rest of us so stop with holier than thou bullshit. You don't want to fight; then stop acting like a brat! I know you and Nate are keeping something from the rest of us and its bullshit. How can you stand there telling me about keeping the family safe when you're hiding stuff from the rest of us?" Zora fumed furiously.

"Cause it keeps us safe and it's the right thing to do." I retorted.

"Yeah right, Bella! Nate thinks that Renée pulled at the seams of our family but really it's you! How can it be the right thing to do if it makes me not like who you have become?" She snarled at me, Moms power was wavering as I tried to weigh my options. I finally just didn't care.

"Fine Aurora; you want to know our bullshit secret? Or why I told you to not to tell them where Nate was? And most importantly why I think I know more than you?" I growl at her.

"You don't know any more than ME!" She starts to yell at me but I project into her mind the first time I told Nate about my shield.

"Whoa," she mumbles, sawing slightly from the sudden lack of vision.

"You're a shield, we all already knew that, and what you can project memories, big deal!" she taunts.

"NO – that's not what that was! That was Zafrina's power! I have Moms power, too! My shield picks them up or copies them so I have them as well." She looks a bit stunned then frowns and says.

"Renee doesn't act like a 'know it all', so that's no excuse for you attitude or why you lied to us about it all this time." Zora raged her face contorted in anger.

"I didn't lie. No one has ever asked me about it, and as for why I didn't tell you, it was Moms power that tells me not to. As for my "know it all attitude", you try standing around knowing something bad is getting ready to happen and you can't stop it. As for Mom well, she tends to ignore her power when . . ."

"How can you say that about your mother? Christ Bella don't you remember New York and what a mess she was?" Zora defends mom admittedly.

"Yes, I do and if you would let me finish?" She gives a curt nod and I continue. "Look for the first year she ignored the feeling all together. Then she found out it was a power she listened her _feelings_ and told us about it. However, lately, if a _feeling_ is bad, but not too bad, she'll ignore it. So, I get stuck sitting there knowing she knows something bad is going to happen and she won't stop it. I can't stop it because only Nate knows that I have her power and every time I want to tell the rest of you I get _horrible feelings_."

"You don't know Renée is doing that, maybe you just get a different feeling than she does; and if that's the case why are yours right and hers wrong?" She inquired, and then adds. "If you're right, you're just as responsible as she is, but you blame her. How is that fair?"

"Sorta, but you don't understand how bad the _feeling_ I get is when I choose to tell you guys. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, if my telling you guys would have been a better option I would have told you all." I try to explain.

"I still think you just get different feeling, there's no way Renée would ignore her power like you think." She states, firmly glaring at me with hard eyes.

"She is Zora." I stop because she screeches and walks towards me while yelling.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT! This is what I'm talking about; why do you think you right all the time?"

"Because I am; I can read her mind! I don't do it often but I sit there and listen to her choosing to ignore her _feelings_."

"WHAT? We don't know any mind reading vampires." Zora declared.

"Ugh, I got in Alaska. Look – I have Mom's _feelings_, Zafrina's illusions, Edward's mind reading, Alice's psychic visions and Jasper's emotional manipulation. I don't use any of them often except for Mom's, unless I'm talking with Nate."

"When did you meet the Cullen's?" She shrieked.

"I didn't. My soft shield covers six-ish miles. I keep out most of the time because I can see what's under it; you guys all have your own sparks. This is so hard to explain can I just show you?" She glares at me, but nods.

I send her an Image of what I see under my shield and speak again. "Ok, you see how the sparks are all slightly different? Well, I know which ones you guys are and I can tell if another vampire comes under it because they have a different spark than a human. If they come under it I get their power, if they have one." She thinks for a moment then says.

"Then it's like I said before, you and Renée did the same thing when you met Garrett and she met Peter and Charlotte!" She notes with a wicked grin, I know she's just trying to fight and I'm sick of.

"No, meeting Garr, the way I did, is why I keep my shield out all the time now."

"I don't believe you," she says flatly. I just bob my head; I can't make her believe me.

"That's it, you just nod?" She asks throwing arms up and glaring at me.

"What would you like me to say? I told that's not what happened and you don't believe me. I told you I don't want to fight with you."

"Whatever Bella, this is just what you do! You don't like what I have to say so you just shut down and don't say anything. I don't believe you because you haven't been honest with me in the past. I'll let Derm and Huilen talk to you about because clearly you and I aren't getting anywhere." As she makes the choice the dread comes on at full force.

"Don't tell them!" I gasp.

"Why not, the world didn't end when you told me? Maybe Renée is right to ignore her power and you should too." She snaps at me.

Without giving it much thought I unlock Jaspers power and push the feelings of dread at her.

"Ugh, what the hell is that?" She growls.

I feel her anger just under the dread I pushed at her; I quickly pull the feeling away from her and say.

"That's was the feeling I get from Mom's power when you said you were going to tell Derm and Huilen. It's just as bad as the _feeling_ I get every time I chose to tell you all about my powers. Do you really think I could ignore _that_?" I growl back at her, letting my anger seep into my voice.

"Don't use your powers on me! I still think you're lying, you're just doing that so I won't get you in trouble." She snapped.

"I would tell them myself if the _feelings_ I got about it weren't so bad. I'm telling you the truth. I can show you, I'll just keep pushing whatever I feel towards you and you make choices that will trigger moms power you'll feel what I feel, nothing more." I promise her.

I allow my sincerity and hope to flow towards her. When she feels them she rolls her eyes and her irritation spikes.

"Fine – I'm going to talk to Nahuel about this when he gets back!" She says. The feelings are peacefulness and comfort. She hums a bit before saying.

"I'm calling Garr back to tell them where Nahuel is." The grief and loss is overwhelming and brings tears to our eyes.

"Just stop it already." She mummers so I pull it all away sending out peace.

With Jaspers power I feel her acceptance but it is mixed with resentment and irritation.

"That's why I stopped you." I whisper.

"Show me what Renée ignores." She asks flatly her face no longer a mask of anger.

"I'll give you an example." I thought about it for a second. "OK – When we were in Vegas the second night, she won twenty-thousand dollars in Roulette in under an hour. She chose to use her power so she could win big and this is what she felt." Bitterness, anger and suspicion flowed throw me to Zora. "Dermott had to stop her because security figured she was cheating somehow and they got in that huge fight about it. She knew something bad would happen if she went with her plan but did it anyway. She did the same thing when she brought back Peter and Charlotte. She won't ignore a really bad _feeling_ but if it's what she wants to do and it's not too bad she'll do what she wants and 'deal with the consequences later'." I made finger quotes when I said 'deal with the consequences later' hoping Zora would understand they were Mom's words not mine.

"I don't understand why she would do that."

"I'm not sure really, from her thoughts it's mostly boredom and she thinks that nothing too bad will happen." I shrug. "She's sure it will all work out, she sees it as no big deal."

"Do you think she had a feeling when she went out in the desert, you know the night she went missing?" Zora asks sadly.

"I'm sure she did, but it wasn't necessarily a bad feeling. Sometimes they change like in New York, if it was the other vampires that made a choice to find her after she was already out there she may have gotten a feeling about it. It could have been too late for her to do anything about it or it may not have been that bad till decide they wouldn't let her leave. I don't know, sometimes it's like a domino effect."

"But what about your feeling about that night? After we all left her alone what were your feelings?" I hated her question, because I did not check anything after I choose to take them with me.

"I don't normally keep her power 'on' all the time. I used it when I choose to take you and Nate with me, everything was fine then but I didn't use it the rest of the night. If I had I might have known something was wrong but not what that something was."

"I thought Renée's power worked all the time. Why didn't you use the psychic power or whatever?" She huffed.

"I didn't have it in Vegas and even if I did, the future can change."

"What does that mean?"

I did my best to explain the different powers I have, how they work and when I got them. I projected into her mind the minds of the humans around us and even showed her what Alice's visions looked like.

I even showed her the one vision I had of mom. She begged me to use the visions find a way to get Renée back. I showed her disaster after disaster of what would happen if we went after her. Then using Jaspers power I showed her the varying awful feelings that accompanied the choice to go after her and then the peace I felt when I choose to wait for her to come to us.

We came up with theories about why Moms power had let me tell Zora now. The best one was, that I need Jaspers power to show her what I felt so that she would understand the reasons I had not told her in the past and why I still could not tell the others. We also tried in vain to come up with a reason that I shouldn't tell the others. We even tried to use the visions' but never saw a reason to not tell them; in the end we trusted mom's power more than Alice's.

After an hour of talking about the powers and how they worked she finally understood that it wasn't really my choice that kept me from telling the rest of the family. She also understood why I couldn't keep them 'on' all the time and only used them when I thought that I needed to. Zora agreed to keep quiet about the powers as long as she felt it was in our family best interest. It was the best talk we have had since we came to the US and I felt closer to her than ever before.

*~o~*

The next two days passed slowly as we hiked further south and into Idaho, trying to get away from the humans. Each morning we listened to our message from Mom. Nate had only called once he let us know it would be hard to contact us where he was going and not to worry.

Zora adopted Nate's hand signals and was just as bad as Nate wanting to "barrow" the powers, she had me constantly using Alice's and projecting the visions to her. Mostly she asked for visions of where we would settle next, she named off towns all over Europe. I also used to search for Nate I hated not being able to see and talk to him everyday. That's why I had the power unlocked and was pulled into a vision . . .

_Mom was standing in a warehouse still wearing the same clothes we last saw her in. She slowly approached two whisper figures that stood in a corner with their backs to her._

_"Hey," she called she repeated herself a few times before the female spun around and stood right in front of her._

_"What Renée?" Victoria spat._

_"Sorry - it's hard to get your attention when I can't call your name. Anyway, I was just going to offer to take everyone with me tonight, and you guys could go hunt. I know you haven't in a while." Mom whispered and then said in a louder voice. "Besides, as long as you keep her arm I'm sure she'll behave."_

_Victoria looked like she was considering it until,_

_"Don't be stupid Tor. We can't lose that one, she the one we trading." The male hissed as he turned to face them._

_"Just trying to help," Mom shrugged. "I'll keep the rest of them out of your hair for the night. When are we leaving this flea bag town anyway?"_

_"Don't worry about that, you just keep your little friends over there out of trouble and let us deal with the rest." James hissed lowly at mom she just nodded and walked off like it was no big deal._

I projected the vision into Zora's mind after I played it for her I told her that they were the vampires that were after the Cullen's. To me this was great news; we knew where Mom was going to end up. Now we just had to figure out a way to let Garr know, and then he could tell the Cullen's and Denali's not to hurt her. Zora's mind focused on James words, she was hoping he meant Sara and not Mom. I push my thoughts to her trying to reassure her that Sara would be more valuable trade because they did not know about mom's power. I couldn't help but wonder whom they were trading with and what they were getting in return. The idea of trading a person was disturbing on many levels and I hope that Sara will be able to free herself from whomever she ends up with.

I hoped that Mom's message tonight conveyed all that we saw in the vision so we could tell Garr. Her messages for the past two days haven't said much other than that they were staying in Kingsville, Texas, and they had traveled for the past three days. She also over heard them mention something about a "Frenchmen." This morning Dermott finally changed my voice mail greeting to remind her to give us descriptions of the leaders. Derm was still hopeful that if we got descriptions Garr would know who they were and be able to offer so sound advice for dealing with them. He and Huilen was becoming increasing concerned with her close proximity to Mexico and feared the worst.

When morning came so did the rain and my phone had two messages; the first being from Nate.

_"She somehow made to a hospital over eighty miles from the cabin where she was left. I don't think she is going to make it – the doctors are stumped, thinking she has some rare fast growing cancer and only thing helping her are blood transfusions. She hasn't woken up in twenty-four hours and before that she wasn't lucid when awake. I'll have to do something with the body, so I'll have to wait here. There's no sign of Serena, yet_

I ended the call after that because we all needed a break before we heard from Mom after that voicemail. Nate's sounded so broken, and I had never heard him like that. Before I was born when he was trying to save mom and me he still had hope. Now he had none and this poor woman and her child is going to die. Nate was stuck waiting for her to do so just so he could 'keep the secret' from the humans and Volturi alike.

"We have to find a way to stop him, not only for these women but also because his carelessness is risking exposure." Dermott muttered breaking through the sound of heavy rain heavy rain.

"And for Nahuel sanity." Huilen added.

"I don't see why we can't just kill him! Next time Jen emails Nahuel we all go together and end him." Zora snapped. "He is going to be found out and then the Volturi will be on our doorstep."

I was still too stunned to respond. They were all correct, I could see Nate turning himself over to Joham and if the humans every performed an autopsy on one of the victims the Volturi would find out for sure. I wanted to use my different powers to find the best path but now was not the time. It would be useless, I'm sure everyone is having their own internal debate right now the visions and feeling would be useless till we try to make a plan.

Huilen uses her phone to call Nate but it goes straight to voice mail. She leaves a message demanding that he call her back.

"I wish he would have called to talk us rather than leaving a message about it. I know what this does to him, he needs to let us come and help him. Did he ever tell you guys anything more than Northwest Territory?" Huilen calmly asks.

She looks to Zora first who shakes her head no and them to me, a pained look crosses Huilen face and she pulls me into a hug. Wiping the tears I did not know were falling. Zora is also crying, signals for me to read her mind but I don't want to read her mind right now. So instead I project to her,

_Later - when we are alone we will work on it together._

"OK we can't do anything thing about Nahuel right now so, let's hear Renée's message." Dermott says.

Mom's message is exactly what we need so I can tell Garrett that mom is on her way to the Cullen's

_"We're still in Kingsville. I'm not sure if we are meeting someone here or traveling again. The male made a comment about trading Sara for something. He's five ten, sandy brown hair that he keeps pulled back into a ponytail, maybe twenty-five-ish and he's average looking in every way. Tor - the female is my height, wild curly long red hair, late teens or twenty at most and absolutely beautiful. She has an odd voice its childlike almost. They have become more talkative but only with each other, so I think that something is going to happen soon. He let me take them all hunting last night, except for Sara; we still can't find a way out that my feelings will agree with. Don't worry I did not tell them about my power. Love you_

"I'll forward it to Garr." I say containing my excitement over the fact that I can share this information with him. I also send him a text.

_G - I have a theory for you and the Cullen's. Try to keep your phone on tonight. ~ I_

Huilen wanted to move into town so that we had better cell service until we heard back from Nate. McCall, Idaho, was only a ten-minute run from where we had camped for the night. We packed our stuff and ran through the downpour to Shore Lodge. We played the part of washed out campers in need of a room for a day or two to wait out the storm.

Huilen paced in her room for hours on end waiting for Nate to call. Zora and I appeared to be watching movies in ours, but we spent the planning and using all of our available resources to help Mom, Nate and Cullen's.

If we tell Mom anything about the Cullen's being the ones that James and Victoria are after she will push herself and the others to make a move sooner rather than later, all the visions that follow that path end badly. When we don't tell her we see her and three others helping the Cullen's win fight.

Zora's mind keeps flipping back and forth between a mental image of Edward and Dean._ ~ I can't make up my mind who is 'hotter'. But I'd love to see them both up close and maybe personal. I wonder if vampires date like humans. I wouldn't mind passing a few years with either of them as my boyfriend._

Her thoughts have me on edge . . . _Zora and Edward_ . . . I refuse to think about it. It is all Nate's fault for putting the idea in my head. But . . . _What would someone like Edward want with someone like me anyhow, Zora much prettier and older too. _ I quickly change the topic to Nate and Joham, getting both of our minds off Edward.

We had the no success on that front. Mom's power won't pick up anything and Alice's visions only show Nate and Serena but the images are blurry flashes that don't mean anything to ether of us. The only conclusion we can draw is that they may meet up. I text Nate,

_N – I had a vision of you and Serena; it was very blurry and short. I didn't see anything useful but I thought you should know. ~I_

When the sun finally sets Dermott and Huilen went out to run the perimeter of the small town 'just to be on the safe side'.

**_E – P.O.V._**

In the days that followed Peter and Charlotte's arrival Jasper and Alice both think of Isabella and her family almost as much as I do.

Jaspers thoughts are centered on "what if's", as he agrees with Garrett and me that they aren't a threat to our family. He is concerned that Alice refuses to tell him how he died in her vision. He can't understand how she could overhear us without our gifts picking up her presence. Jasper wants to ask Garrett more questions about them but knows Garrett is more loyal to them than us. Why; is the constant question on his mind? Why did she send Garrett, Peter and Char to help us when she doesn't know us? Why can't they tell us what they are? Why would Garrett come here as a favor knowing he could be in danger? Why would Peter and Char consider them a big enough threat to check on us? His only comfort came from Garrett words. "They fear the Volturi finding out about them, that's why they stay hidden and don't want anyone to know what they are." He assured Jasper that they broke none of our vampire laws, but they are such a rarity that the Volturi would either fear them for being unknowns or want to take them to study them.

Alice's mind focused on the when. She wanted answers and wanted them now. She had seen the vision of me sitting with the unknown vampire; I now know as Dermott, over six months ago and hasn't since then. She is trying to force the visions by making decisions to invite all of them with her to go someplace or over for a holiday. The only definite vision she has had that involves them is Christmas in eight years from now. It was of a huge party in our home in England, she sees six vampires that she doesn't know and seven blurry spots mixed in with our family and the Denali's. She has been counting backwards by weeks from that date only picking up bits and pieces. Every time she gets too excited and chooses to go find them now her vision of Jasper death replays in her mind.

Garrett pulls me from my thoughts mentally calling my name while reading a text.

_G – I'll call you in ten. Can you have Edward and Jasper with you; I think they will want to hear what Zora and I have come up with. ~I_

A new text arrives as he moves to put his phone away.

_We'll see you there! – Alice _

Garrett tells Kate and the others that are with them in the family room he has to make some phone calls. He kisses her quickly and heads out the front door, as I drop silently out of my bedroom window.

We are the first to arrive in the same clearing that we meet Peter and Charlotte in. Reciting the family member's names then phone numbers over and over blocks his mind from me.

"You don't have to do that; I won't say anything about what I see in your thoughts."

"I know, but the less you all know the better at least until you meet them for yourself one day. Then they can share what they want you to know. It's not my story." He answers with a shrug. I like that Garrett's thought follow his words to a tee. His blocking me has nothing to do with not trusting me and he thinks that if and when I meet them we will all get along well. He thinks that "his Kitten" and I would be great friends; apparently we have a lot in common but his thoughts don't elaborate on what.

We hear Jasper and Alice approaching. Alice is frustrated because she did not see them make the choice to have us here for this conversation, only Garrett calling her to tell her about it; while Jasper in concerned that she has information that must affect us somehow. Alice's time is impeccable as always just as they stop in front of us Garrett phone rings.

"Kitten, Zora how are you two?"

I hear Isa sigh and Zora chirps. "Good, how are you guys?"

"I can't complain – you wanna tell us about this theory of yours?"

"I'll let Bella do it. I was mostly her anyway." Zora snicker.

"Garr, did you get the message I forwards earlier?"

"Yeah – doesn't mean much to me. I'm still worried about her location more than anything."

"You can stop talking in code, Garr. They're about to hear it all anyhow. Can I ask one thing from the Cullen's before we get all this out in the open?"

"Sure." I answer.

"Thanks Edward." She says sounding very unsure. "Please, just hear us out before you jump to conclusions." Alice nods her head vigorously and Jasper gives hesitant nod, his agreement is based solely on Alice reaction.

"We will." I answer.

"Thanks – Garr do you still have the message or did you delete it?"

"It's gone. Why?"

"Cause I'm sure that the Cullen's will want to hear it. I'll resend when we get off the phone, or if you want I'll send to a different number if you guys need to hear it now."

We hear Zora in the background mumbles. "Quit stalling."

We hear Isa take a deep breath and her voice shakes as she starts to speak. "Umm well there is no easy way to say this, but I think that Renée is with James and Victoria. She's not trying to help them, I'll send you all the old messages we have them all."

Jasper cuts her off when he snarls. "Why would you think that?"

"Um - just from putting together stuff from all of her messages and what I overheard from you guys. Renée is with a male tracker who she described as five ten, sandy brown hair that he keeps pulled back into a ponytail, about twenty-five when he was changed. The female is five-six with wild curly long red hair, late teens or twenty at most and absolutely beautiful according to Renée. The male finally called her something sounding like Tor or Tori, but she doesn't know their names. The other day she said they mentioned a Frenchmen, I think that's Laurent. They also have someone who used to report back to them, Riley. He was spying on the coven that's holding his friend hostage. She knows they are lying on the hostage part but her power keeps her from running, probably cause of the tracker. Anyway - they are down in Texas. She thinks they are waiting on someone, and they are trading Sara, who can turn invisible, for something. Zora and I think they are going to get more newborns to add to the ones they already have. Ma – Renee has already gotten the ones that are with her on her side, except for Sara cause she can't get her alone. She said Dean would help them get away but her power keeps telling her it's not safe." She is talking so fast that we can barley understand her ramblings.

"Slow down, Kitten." Garrett laughs but Jasper shoots him a dirty look.

"Sorry," Isa squeaks' out. "I just didn't want them to think she was with them by choice."

Alice snickers, "Tell me about her power. Why won't it let her leave?"

"Umm – she gets _feelings_ based on choices. Good choice she gets a good _feeling_, bad choice she gets a bad _feeling._ Of course there are varying degrees, but that the base of it. Right now, when she makes the choice to leave her power reacts so strongly that she said she almost doubles over in pain. I think it's the worst _feeling_ she has ever had, so she won't leave until she at least has an OK _feeling . . ."_

Alice cuts off her chattering, snickering. "OK – OK I get it, I understand completely." She is thinking it's like a mix of her power and Jaspers.

"Tell us slowly this time, who is she with?" I say to Isa, in a soft voice, hoping to calm her down.

"Two leaders, I think they're James and Victoria, and four newborns, three males and one female. Sara, can turn invisible, she is not in control of it yet and last time she tried to escape they ripped her arm off and kept it. She's the one they are trying to trade for something or someone else. Dean is the other newborn with a power, if he screams in your direction; it stuns you somehow, it lasts about five-seconds. Adam is the oldest, about six months old, he told her about the leaders killing the other newborns for trying to run away and how Riley used to come once a week to report back to them. She never said much about Warren, just his name. She takes the newborns out hunting and has been working to get them to trust her so they can try to escape together, but like I said her power still gives her a really bad _feeling_ so they won't risk leaving yet.

"So here is the thing, I think that if we tell her she going to be fighting you guys she will go against her power and try to leave anyhow. She knows that Carlisle is a friend of Garrett's and one of the members of our family changed his diet because he heard of Carlisle Cullen the vampire Doctor. She doesn't know you but has a lot of respect for you. I think we should tell her when it's almost time for the fight, she will definitely fight on your side and from the sounds of it so will Dean, Adam and Warren are maybes, she is working on them. We just have to see who else they are getting. She leaves a voicemail every night I'll forward it to whomever you want so you can hear it for yourself. Just please don't kill her when she gets there," she trails off sadly.

"Why do you think they are getting more newborns?" Jasper whole-heartedly agrees but wonders if she knows about the wars in the South. Garrett rolls his eyes at Jasper, thinking that Isa is a nerd for all the vampire and supernatural history she knows. I almost laugh as he imagines her rolling her eyes and mutter 'dumbass' under her breath.

"Well, considering they are only one hundred miles north-east of Monterrey, Mexico, it wasn't a big leap to assume that. We have heard rumors of a few of the leaders from the Newborn Wars still being in Mexico and still fight but on a much smaller scale. I'm sure that they are planning on trading Sara for a few older trained newborns that he can keep under control without having to hunt them down every night." she answers confidently. All of us agree. Garrett had been concerned that whomever had Renée was going to get involved in the southern wars. He worried for her safety and their family's secret if Volturi had to step in.

"How did you connect the dots and come up with this theory? You must have overheard a lot from us." Jasper growls thinking that she must have spied on us on more than one occasion, he can't think of any conversations we had where we talked about James and Victoria out in the open.

"I did hear a lot. I noticed the similarities between Renée's descriptions of the leaders and what I heard from you all. I hope I'm right because that means you guys have inside information and Renée only has to keep herself safe until the fight." Isa says but it sounds like a question.

"Where were we when you overheard us? You seem to know an awful lot about all of this . . . And it's awful convenient that someone from your _family _ends up with James and Victoria." Jasper sneers and Garrett's eyes harden as he watches Jasper pace back and forth.

"I know all this looks suspicious, that's why I asked you to hear me out and remember I sent Garrett to help before Renée even went missing." She sighed but continued. "The conversation I heard was all of you arguing about what to do about James and Victoria. Think it was right after Alice had her vision of them making the newborns . . ."

"Why were listening at our house? Why didn't we sense you there?"

"I overheard Alice and Edward talking, he said something about listening in on a conversation and that then their thoughts just vanished. I was worried that he heard Nate and Zora who had been in the area, and wanted to make sure that they weren't coming after us or going to the Volturi. So, I went to the house a few days later to see if I could hear anything. I heard about the problems with James and Victoria. Carlisle's name was said a lot and figured you were the Cullen's we had heard about."

"Why didn't we notice you near the house?" Jasper cut in hatefully, because he was upset that she got so close without him knowing.

"I'm not sure; the sound of my heart wouldn't alert you or anything, you'd just think it was an animal. I knew Edward could read minds so I tried to keep my head empty and only focus on what I was hearing. I thought for sure I would get caught but I figured he probably already told everyone and I just wanted to know if you all were going to the Volturi . . ." She confessed, her voice suddenly thick with emotion.

"Clam down Bella, its ok." We here in the background, and Zora has the phone. "Look Jasper, we get it. She spied on you guys and that's screwed up but she was just looking out for the rest of her family. I'm sure any of you would have done the same in her shoes. She overheard what you all were dealing with and helped the best way she could, by sending Garrett, Peter and Charlotte. The rest of us didn't even know about the almost run in with your family, other than Nate who told her she had to stay out of it. Renée was taken after she sent help do you really think that she would put her own m – Renée in danger. Your problems with James and Victoria started long before Renée got stuck with them. We aren't working with them. Did they strike you as the sorta Vampires that would hang out with three veggies and three others that won't even say what they are?" Zora lectured.

"No, but . . ." Jasper denied.

"No 'buts', you either believe us or you don't. Either she's trying to help you or hurt you. Why would she want to hurt you?" Zora says firmly, causing Alice and Garrett to snicker.

"Why would she want to help?" Jasper countered harshly.

"With your attitude, god knows, but she did. So take the insider info and do with it what you want. When Renée shows up and fights with you instead of against you don't kill her that's all we asked for," Zora barks. We can still hear Isa sniffing in the background when they quickly say good-bye.

"They're right Jasper, when I look now I see a golden eyed female fight on our side that I don't recognize!" Alice declared.

Her vision showed a vampire; I now know as Renée, fight alongside my family. Other than our family, Renee, James and Victoria were the only clear parts of the vision.

The four of us listened to each message that Renée had left her family, and an email but found no new information. Isa had managed to cover it all with her rambling. None of us doubted that Renée was with James and Victoria or that she not was there by choice after we heard what she had to say. We were all shocked to hear how she used her power to reset human blood when James made her watch the others feed. She had lied in hopes of maintaining her diet by saying it made her ill. The fact her feelings were strong enough to overrule her bloodlust showed us just how bad they must be.

Jasper was still hung up on why Isa would want to help us. However, hearing that James and Victoria were likely getting Newborns from Monterrey gave him a whole new worry. He was sure that his maker Maria would still be there and gladly offer the numbers James would need just to help destroy him and his mate.

As we walked back to the house at human speed Jasper and Garrett debated on how to tell the others about Renée being with James, while Alice tried to find visions of Renée. Jasper wanted us to tell the whole story including Isa spying and that she and three others weren't Vampires. Garrett was determined not to allow Eleazar have any information about his family; he suggested passing Renée off as a fellow nomad. That she got stuck in bad company and when she figured out what was going on she contacted him to warn us.

His thoughts gave away the other issue he was having. Kate had finally him told the story of her mother and Vasilli, the immortal child she died for. He had planned on taking Kate to meet them as soon as my family was safe but now he wanted to wait for Isa to grow up more before he made the introductions. He was unsure how she would react and did not want her or his family in jeopardy. If she jumped to the wrong conclusion it would end badly for him no matter what.

I was concerned about Isabella, she was clearly upset at the by the end of the conversation. I picked up on Garrett's thoughts at the time; he didn't think it had anything to do with Jaspers harsh words. She was not someone he considered overly emotional, if anything she hid them well until his last encounter with her. But maybe between Renne being missing and Nate running off in search of an "other", Jaspers words could have stung but he still doubted that was it.

.

**Thanks for reading! *****I'll send you a preview, if you review.* ****;)**

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_**

**_2/16/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	28. Total Chaos

Chapter 28 – Total chaos

_**B –P.O.V.**_

Tears fill my eyes, my throat tightens, the heaviness in the pit of my stomach as nothing to do with mom's power. I push the phone towards Zora and she takes over the conversation with Jasper. He still sounds irate but I let the conversation fade into the background as I frantically search for a solid vision of Nate.

Instead I get pulled into a vision of Dermott.

_He is slowly approaching a small person, he keeps repeating 'you're okay I won't hurt you." The person he is speaking too is huddled under a fur tree; she looks up with brilliant red eyes._

I gasp loudly and Zora's eyes flicker in my direction. She quickly makes an excuse to get off the phone and we both rush through our goodbyes.

"I know Jasper didn't get you riled up, so what is it?" she softly pleads. Unable to verbalize I push my thought towards her.

_**N - P.O.V.**_

The Northwest Territory of Canada in this almost not existent town, a new face is news. The small hospital is a buzzing with information about the Jane Doe that was brought in three days prior. That's why I'm hiding out on the rooftop of the hospital.

If I had found her before some Good Samaritan dropped off her here perhaps the Jane Doe would have stood a chance. Lucky for me, or us, the hospital is ill-equipped and hasn't come close to discovering what is truly wrong with Jane Doe. They will however, if we don't find a way to make sure that a post-mortem exam is not performed. A human with a uterus that can't be cut into would certainly bring an investigation of some kind, possibly drawing Doctors from across the world and media as well.

Villainous as it may sound, I wish the poor woman would die already. Neither the doctors nor I can do anything to save her now and the longer I have the to wait the more I have to listen to Serena.

She claims that this is not he first time she has cleaned up the mess when a victim of Joham's made to the hospital before their death. She tried and failed to talk her way into the woman's room; without ID's no one was buying her story that they were half sisters. Since then she has been sitting on the roof with me waiting.

Serena came straight to the roof with me after they threatened to call the police on her. First she raged about the "idiot humans" and how superior we are to them. Then she moved onto whining about Joham making her do his grunt work and that he did not appreciate all that she did for him. Then she turned on me, saying it was my fault that Joham was so obsessed with making another son because I had never allowed him to study me. She became so loud and violent that I had to physically restrain her; in turn she attempted to seduce me. When I did not give in she begged, telling me that she was sure if she got pregnant Joham would stop his quest for a new son and study her and her child. After making no headway on that front, she questioned how I had found the woman. My simple lie was the most I spoke to her.

"I was hunting and came across Joham's scent along with the girls at the cabin. When I saw the human was missing I followed her scent this way. I'm staying to make sure this mess he made gets covered up well."

It was hard not to flinch under her scrutiny, while she debated whether to believe my lie. Once she was convinced she started up again. I did my best to tune her out; she wasn't saying anything new, only rewording everything she already said. It was well into the third night after I had snuck into the woman's room and confirmed that the fetus was dead, when she finally asked me, rather than talking at me, "Why do you care what happens to the human girls?" She vented.

"They remind me of my mother, young and vulnerable, they believe his lies. Did you know he promised my mother he would change her and that we would live out eternity with him as a family?" I question her.

"He only loved my mother, she was his mate," she growled furiously at me. "He told her all the time how much he loved her and I. He was out hunting to prepare for her change when she went into labor. He was too late getting back and I killed her, but he took care of me anyway. He loved her and he loves me because I'm the last part of her."

"I heard him with my own ears, just like you did. Do you know what happen when a vampire losses their mate? They find a way to die. What they don't do is go out and get more women pregnant trying to start a supper race."

"He was able to move on because she was still human!" Serena exclaimed.

"That's not true, in the forty or so year that Dermott stayed with the Volturi two vampires came begging for death after failing to successfully change their mates. He never loved your mother; just liked he didn't love mine or the woman dying four floors below."

"You're wrong!" She fumed, clenching her fists to her side.

"OK - I'm wrong, that still doesn't explain why he made Maysun or me. If you were a happy surprise, why did he make the rest of us?" I asked flatly. Serena and I have never had a real conversation and I have always wondered why she followed Joham so blindly. She paused seeming to think about what I had asked. I realized that she never questioned anything Joham said or did. She couldn't answer my question truthfully because it never occurred to her to ask.

"He needed more of us; he couldn't study only me, he needs to compare me with something." Serena finally said.

"How many 'test subjects' does he need; what's the point to all this? He can't tell anyone, the Volturi would destroy him and all of us. He is too careless and he is going to expose us eventually."

"He has a plan for that." She sates smugly. "If the Volturi find out about us they will need him to explain his years of research and he won't let them hurt us."

I harshly laugh at her. "You know nothing! The Volturi will burn him before he can plead his case. All it takes is one touch from Aro and every though he has ever had will be heard, they don't need him for anything."

Seeing the look of disbelief on her face I continue. "You know some vampires have extra abilities. Maysun told me about the tracker you all killed before I was born. So, is it hard to believe that there are mind reading vampires out there. If he didn't think it was dangerous he wouldn't work so hard to hide us and make no mistake, he hides us for his own safety not ours. If we could get the Volturi to hear us out we might be spared, since technically we did not break any laws – but from what I hear I doubt we would get the chance."

She looks astonished by what I have said. She sits with her legs hanging over the edge of the roof and stares out into the night sky. Ten minutes pass before she leaps up and spins around to face me. Her face is full of hate and her movements feral.

"This is all your fault, you should have let him study you! If you did he wouldn't still be trying for a Son. We wouldn't be here waiting for the girl to die and risking exposure!"

I try not to consider her words, but I have often wondered if letting him study me would at least stop him temporally.

"He always thought you'd come to him eventually, but after a hundred years of waiting he has become desperate. He dissected the one male fetus that I recovered, but still has many questions. You are the only one that can offer the answers without further risks; he won't stop not till he has his answers!"

I know she's right, Maysun, Jennifer and I have spent hours debating we all agree that he won't stop till he is satisfied. The question remains; will he ever be satisfied with what I would be willing to offer or would it just spurs more questions. Thus encouraging him to try harder to make a male or come after my family and me.

"Please" she begs weakly, she looks utterly defeated.

"What tests would he want to perform?" I ask.

A wide smile blooms on her face and I interject before she can get too hopeful. "I didn't say yes and IF I were to come both Huilen and Dermott would come with me."

She scowls slightly before rattling off "tests" that most would consider forms of torture, but she has survived them and assures me that I would too. I laugh a bit telling her, I won't be participating in those types of tests. I have no desire to know how long if would take for my arm to reattach to my body or how long my skin can be subjected to a flame before showing signs of damage.

The only thing myself or Huilen would allow are things like X-rays, MRI, CT, fluid samples and maybe a small cut to see the if we all have the same rate of healing. She laughs bitterly asking how they are supposed to perform the tests without equipment. He has never used any modern science to test them; to me it sounds more like he wants to know what we can survive.

We end up having heated discussions about genetics' cross breeding of animals and why she can't seem to be impregnated. I'm surprised by her medical knowledge, but she blows it off as only helping Joham. The conversation always seems to come back to her having a child.

I spoke to her about new IVF studies and Artificial Uterus; trying to make her see that if she and Joham used new technologies he could do away with the need for his human incubators, as she called them. She could also try to carry a baby using IVF, but she wanted her own baby. I asked what test Joham had performed trying to figure out if she had functioning Fallopian tubes. She was unsure but assumed she was fertile because he had her attempt to become pregnant before.

I hope it's her desire to be a mother and not Joham wanting to further his "super race" by creating a hybrid that was only a quarter human that drives her. I ask her but her response is only a shrug of indifference, so I push her further by asking.

"So, you'd be fine with him testing _your_ child? Say he wants to cut off an arm just to see how long it would take to reattached?"

"Of course," she sneers and storms off.

I don't know what to make of her; she only sees herself as Joham's first born. She seems to have no interests of her own except for maybe having a child. With the way she treated Jennifer and Maysun while they were growing up I never would have guessed.

I spend the night awake contemplating going to Joham. How long would we stay? What about Zora and Isa? I know that Isa can protect them but Huilen and Derm would never leave them alone, and Renée is not around now. Now is really not the time to try something like this but Joham is getting too sloppy.

If left him to carry on like he has been, it won't be much longer before we are exposed. I consider calling Isa, wanting to know her _feelings _on the matter, but she would try to use Alice's power as well. I don't want to subject her to visions of the things Joham would want to do to me.

I'm confident that with Huilen and Dermott with me he could not force me to stay. Well, at least not physically, Maysun and Jennifer can't be there he would use them to his advantage and try to manipulate me into staying.

I attempt to look at the situation from every angle. I don't know when an opportunity like this will come along again. Right now, Serena is concerned with her safety and questioning Joham's loyalty to her and her mother. If I go now it will look like she convinced me. It will be at least another ten years before he sends Maysun to try to "bring me home", and a lot can happen in ten years.

Serena rises before the sun. She doesn't approach me so I go to her. She looks up at me with a frown.

"I'll make you a deal," I announce to her. "I'll go back with you BUT you have to agree to all of my terms."

"I can't guarantee anything, you would have to speak with our father, you know that." she insisted.

"Yes, you can and you will, because I won't let him keep risking all of our lives. So, I'll come back with you and he'll have his answers but then you need to find a way to stop him. It's too dangerous for him to continue like he has been with modern technology. He has to stop; he is going to get us all killed. I will stop him myself if you don't." I tell her calmly, although my threat is clear.

_**D – P.O.V.**_

I just ripped into the juggler of a large buck when I hear a gasp. Then I am airborne, having been tossed off my kill by a very small vampire.

The girl was wrapped around the deer hold it tightly to her body as her bright red eyes focused on me. She stood no more than five one, slender, with waist length dark hair and she was young both in human years and in her vampire life. She growls as the blood runs dry, dropping the carcass into the ground. She stares at it with shocked expression, and then looks up at me, as she backs away slowly.

"I'm sorry – I uh didn't know. I mean it was an accident." She stammers.

"No – No it's fine. I'll get the next one. Where is your maker?" I ask softly not wanting to scare her off. She cocks her head to the right, looking fearful.

"You should be out here all alone, who are you here with? I can help you find your way back to them." I say but make no move towards her.

"I'm alone." She squeaks. "I don't know what a maker is? But ever since I woke I've been alone, I came here to try to hide from the smell of the people." She is still backing away from me as we speak. Just what we need a newborn without her maker on the loose in the same area as us. I wonder how old she is, in both senses of the word and how big is her trail of destruction.

"Oh – When and where did you wake up?" I ask trying to sound nonchalant but she picks up on my stress and starts to move a bit faster.

"Um - someplace in Utah, last I remember I was in Logan, I think."

"When?" I ask, she woke up less than three hundred miles from here; hopefully she didn't stop too many times between here and there.

"I'm not sure – I, um, I stayed in the river for as long as I could but . . . I'm not sure how long it really was, it was dark so . . ." she mutters

"Are we talking hours, a day or more, since you woke from the change?"

"At least a couple of weeks, I think?"

I let out an involuntary hiss and the girl darts under a large fir tree. I walk towards her slowly and keep repeating. "You're okay, I won't hurt you." She looks up with brilliant red eyes full of tears that can't fall and I tell her.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to scare you. I was just shocked; I would like to help you if you let me. I'm Dermott by the way."

She nodded apprehensively, but said nothing.

"How about I tell you about myself? Feel free to ask questions I'm sure you have a lot . . ."

So, I told her the watered down story of my change and my early years. She said nothing until I mentioned the Jane, Demetri and Felix, coming to help capture the newborn girl who Robert made.

"Why did they come?"

"We have laws, they are part of the coven that makes the laws and enforces them. They had to stop her; she was exposing the humans to her true nature and leaving witnesses. All of our laws stem from one major thought keep the secret. Humans can't know about vampires and if they do they don't live long and neither do the vampires that let the humans know." She shutters wildly when I say the word Vampire. "Are you alright?"

"Umm, sure I was just hoping I was wrong or dreaming or anything really . . . Even dead, just not that. I mean that's what I thought I was but I just don't want it to be true. I don't want to live forever; I don't want to kill people, I don't want any part of this." She spits the last sentence out.

"Well, I can't do anything about the fact that you're a vampire but I haven't killed a human in almost one hundred years and I'll teach you how, if you'd like."

"That won't help the six people I already killed." She mutters softly.

"Six?" I say totally stunned, she claims to be a few weeks old and has managed to only kill six times.

"I didn't mean to . . . I tried to stop. I came to the woods but they are still here, they're everywhere that's why I was in the river . . ." She cries, her whole body shakes as she sobs.

"Shhh . . . Don't cry; it's okay. Six – that's amazing. In your situation most would have done far more damage. I can help; you don't have to hurt anyone else. You don't have to do this alone. Before the deer how long had it been since you feed last?"

"I'm not sure, why?"

"You stay here and I'll bring you something, newborns normally need to feed daily. I need to call Huilen as well, she be worried. Can you promise to stay here?"

"Yeah."

"Okay – I'll hurry. I'll be gone ten minutes at most."

My call to Huilen went as well as I expected. She was less than thrilled to hear about my find, mainly because of the stress our family was already under. After I tell her as much about the girl as I knew, which really wasn't much, she finally agreed to go get Bella's phone so that we could answer when Renée called. I also ask her to grab some of her things for the poor girl to change into, her clothes still smelled of her own human scent as well as those she fed from. She would then come and meet the girl for herself and hopefully with both her and Renee's blessing we would have a new family member by dawn.

I'm pretty sure that neither Bella nor Aurora would mind the addition to the family. It would however be good to get Renee's _feelings_ on her before I made the offer. If Renée did not have a _good feeling,_ I'll try to teach the girl as much as I can and maybe call Garrett to see if she could find a home with him and Kate.

After breaking the necks of two larger deer, I carry them awkwardly back to the girl. I drop them both in the small clearing and call out to her.

"Feed from both, and then we can talk more." I tell her as I back away from them.

"I don't know how. I've never tried to kill something, it only happened on accident." She mutters while slowly approaching them.

Her eyes have turned flat black but she is still very much in control of her actions as she kneels down next to them. She eyes them curiously but makes no move to drink. I am in awe of her as she struggles not to lose control. Finally with slow deliberate moves she lifts the one she is closest to her and bites into its neck. Only then does she give into her vampire nature.

She quickly drains both of them. Once the blood is gone she quickly reverts into her shy, fearful self. She looks down at them in horror, while frantically wiping the blood from her hand in the wet grass. Then she pulls at the sleeves of her shirt and wipes her face as well.

"I don't think I'll ever be okay with killing something so that I can survive." She sates sadly, still staring at the two lifeless deer.

"Were you a vegetarian?" I ask hoping she says no. She looks so sad and confused but shakes her head in disagreement.

"Well then, even before your change animals died to feed you. Now you just need something different from them, try to think of it in those terms. I know it's hard because you're doing the killing yourself now but rather than feeling bad about the deer think of it as a human life you saved by not giving into your nature."

As I finish speaking I here Huilen's approach; the girl looks to the left where Huilen will be coming from her eyes are wide and full of panic.

"Don't worry, that's just my wife Huilen. She's bringing you some fresh clothes, they'll be a bit too big but they won't smell of humans. It should make you thirst easier to control."

"Thanks," she whispers while still searching for signs of Huilen.

We hear Huilen slow down to human pace just before she steps into the clearing. The girl, who is still kneeling by the dead deer springs to her feet and moves towards the tree she huddled under while I told her my story. I give her a reassuring smile and tell her.

"It's okay, you're safe. She won't hurt you, none of us will."

My words stop her retreat. She watches as Huilen walks up to me and gives me a quick hug and peck on the cheek. She also slips Bella's phone into my pocket. Huilen turns to the girl with a soft smile and speaks.

"Hello, I'm Huilen. I brought you some clean clothes and stuff to freshen up with. So, you and I can head to one of the lakes and get you cleaned up, would that be alright?" The girl glances at me and then back at Huilen before giving a tight nod.

"What's your name sweetie?" Huilen asks with a soft smile.

"Bree" she answers softly.

"Well, come with me Bree and I'll help get you cleaned up. Then we can come back here and talk with Dermott about what we're going to do next." Huilen holds her hand out to Bree, who surprisingly walks to Huilen and takes it before they dash off together.

I bury the three deer that Bree has fed from. Then begin to think of how to word my question for Renée. I don't want to ask her if she minds Bree joining our family because clearly she needs us. I but I still want to know Renee's _feelings_ on the matter, not her personal thoughts on the matter. I need to come up with small choices; they work the best with Rennes power.

Is it safe to have Aurora and Bella around Bree? Are we safe in this land preserve with Bree with us? I'm sure the answer is yes to both since Bree is even more controlled than Renée was a newborn. I can just tell her . . .

The sound of Bella's phone ringing stops my planning. I answer quickly,

"We're all safe. I just need you to use your power real quick, then you can call right back and leave your normal message." I greet her knowing she would be worried because the phone rang and did not go straight to voice mail.

"OK – but we need to hurry," she sputters "the others will be back soon."

"I meet someone new who I'm going to introduce to our family," I state quickly.

"That's great! Really good feeling, even better than the night Bella met Garrett."

"OK - good. We moved into Idaho, and are planning to stay here until we are all together again."

"What, why, did some . . ."

"Don't worry about it, we're all safe and you need to hurry. I just want to know if we should stay here or move on. What are your _feelings_ about that choice?"

"Staying seems good, well not bad anyway. What's going on? Do you need . . ." She starts rambling.

"We're all fine; you don't need to worry about us. Call back and leave your normal message. We'll answer this phone if we have any problems okay; just keep yourself safe, that's what matters most now."

"Alright, I'll go now," mutters Renée sadly as she hangs up.

I would talk to her more but she really needs to stay focused what she's going through not us. The phone rings again and I send it to voice mail.

*~o~*

The next two days and nights passed without much fanfare.

Bree made no comments about the difference between the hybrids and herself when she met Bella and Zora. As a matter of fact Bree never spoken unless spoken to, even then she seemed to answer with as few words as possible. Bella and Zora worked hard to include her in conversations but they made very little headway. They told her story about our home in the Amazon and our plans of moving to Europe, but the most Bree gave them was soft smiles and shrugs.

Bree refused to hunt, so each night while Bella and Zora slept I brought her a deer. She feed quickly, said a soft 'Thanks' and then returned to the tent with the sleeping girls where she stayed till morning.

Bella started having nightmares; she would call out for Nate or her Mom and jolt awake with tears streaming down her face. The dreams seemed to bother Zora and Bree almost as much as Bella. They both would try frantically to wake her. Then comfort her after the dreams, while Huilen and I watched from the doorway of the tent. The first night it happened three times and the second it was four, all of us including Bree were worried. It was the only time Bree made an effort to become involved with our family but each morning she relapsed into silence. Bella stayed silent as well, refusing to talk about her dreams.

On our third morning with Bree, Bella turned on her cell phone and found that we had three messages. The first was from Renée.

"_We are in Monterey, Mexico. They met with Maria, who gave the leaders a dozen year old vampires in exchange for Sara. I stayed outside with the others while they made the trade so I can't describe her but she said she was happy to help take down Jasper Whitlock and his coven of yellow-eyed bastards. I don't know what to do, there will be twenty of us now including the French man who will meet us there. I still don't know where we are going but they said we should be there in two weeks then they would set us free. I don't want to fight anyone let alone another vegetarian coven but my power still says it's not safe to leave. Change your greeting if you have anything that can help me. Love you."_

Renée was clearly crying while she left the message. I glanced around and everyone was staring at the phone in horror. The next message started to play.

"_I talked to Nate and I'm on my way – I should be there around four," _I was shocked to hear Garrett say, and wondered why he called Bella's phone when he knew it was off.

Then Nahuel's voice came thought the speakers,

"_I know this is a bad time, with Renée gone, but I need Dermott and Huilen to meet Serena and I at Edmonton International by eight am tomorrow. I agreed to let have Joham five days to run tests – He knows you're both coming as well. Garrett is coming to stay with Aurora and Isabella while we are gone. Serena had Jen and Maysun leave so it will just be the five of us. We won't be able to call once we get together because they don't know about Zora and Isa. I'm sorry but I have to do this, three of his victims made it to the hospital in the last year. Isa and Zora, I promise we'll be fine and we'll be back soon, we'll call in six days when we are on our way back."_

_._

_._

**Thanks for reading! *****I'll send you a preview, if you review.* ****;) Things are going to progress faster now - I promise and soon we have a time jump!**

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose, for being a great beta! *_**

**_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_**

**__****Sweet Little Angel by ****_tpec1991 Is a great tear jerker that I'm reading Check it out - _**Post-New Moon - Three years after Edward left Bella he tries to go on with his life after leaving his heart behind. But what happens when he receives a strange visit with a special delivery that changes his life completely? Now Edward has to face a new challenge and realize his mistakes while struggling to find the love of his life before it's too late. Will he make it in time?

**_One Night by FeistyDragan - Is a new story I'm reading that has very OOC E+B - Big Bitter Bella - M for Lang and Lem -_**_"What happened in the bedroom stays in the bedroom, and we never ever speak of it again. I intend to keep that promise, Edward." Bella and Edward were great friends before a falling out one night. Many years later and neither have seen each other since graduation. One wrong move, and everything could change forever._

**_2/28/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**


	29. Bad Dreams

**Thanks for reading *****I'll send you a preview, if you review.* ****  
**

**? For the readers - should hybrids be able to have children?**

**Sorry for the delay in posting - I was suffering from a major writer's block as I tried to finish the chapter. It Shouldn't be long before I post the next chapter I be sending it to my betas tomorrow.**

**_*Big thank you Snowgoose and Liz fromSRP, for being great betas! *_**

**_Also check out my profile for charter index for this story and a link to photos!_**

**_5/30/13_**

**_Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight and the twilight characters, no copyright infringement intended._**

* * *

**_Chapter 29 - Bad Dreams_**

**_E –P.O.V._**

Garrett had left for the airport less than an hour after a secret phone call from Nate, and Kate was a mess. He had reassured her that his safety was not in jeopardy and that he would be back in six days, he had done all he could to reassure her. Still, Kate had wanted to go with him but he was adamant it wasn't the right time to meet them. He promised that before his family left for Europe she would meet them but he wanted to introduce her to them under less stressful circumstances.

Kate knew the truth about his family, about the differences between the 'others' and us. The only thing he did not share with her was Isabella's age; it was the only thing he was still nervous about when it came to Kate meeting his family.

Kate was looking forward to meeting them all and for the first time she was considering living apart from her sisters. She wasn't sure if she wanted to live with his family but she was sure that she wanted a chance to get to know them.

This thought alone filled me with envy for reasons I could not imagine. Thoughts of Isabella and her family, still invaded my mind often. Anytime I let my mind wander, it went straight to them and, for some reason; I focused mostly on Isabella. Even with all the memories I had seen from Garrett, Peter and Charlotte, I still wanted to know more about them, Isabella in particular.

Carmen and Esmé were trying to distract Kate from her missing mate; he had been gone less than twenty-four hours and was not handling it well. They both understood better than the other women how hard it was to be separated from your mate. Esmé has suffered through a few days of separation several times over the years for things like medical conferences, or her needing to get the next house ready before he could leave his work behind. Carmen was no stranger to separations from Eleazar, he had never allowed her to travel with him to Volterra, the few times he had returned since meeting her. Esmé and Carmen wanted to help her redecorate her room, which was now their room, to give it a less feminine feel.

Ordering supplies and new furniture only ate up a few hours. Then Kate was back to 'whining,' according to Rosalie thoughts. She stormed up to Kate's room; intent on taking her hunting as a distraction, just so she would not have to hear her 'whining' for a few hours.

Alice and I both were keeping an eye on Jasper, he was still excessively worried about the 'others' and Renée. He was desperate to ask Carlisle about them; however, every time he made the decision to do so, Alice would get visions of Jasper, Kate, Eleazar, me and her in black robes with red eyes serving the Volturi. Hearing about Alice's vision was barely enough to keep him from telling Carlisle.

He'd called Peter and Charlotte, who had left almost as soon as they came, promising to return if or when we called them for help, to question them about Renée and the 'others.' I was surprised to hear that they offered up very little information other than the facts we already knew. They, too, told Jasper to leave them alone and that the less information he had the better. They told him that Renée was no threat; it was the 'others' that had them worried. Peter told Jasper, "Renée is just an idiotic youngin that was looking to make friends and was too stupid to listen to her power. I suppose she learned her lesson now." He also told them about our latest message from Renee – Maria had traded a dozen newborns for one gifted one, and wishes them luck in destroying Jasper.

Rather than giving up, Jasper found a 'new hobby.' He was studying all things supernatural; he had questioned Carlisle and Eleazar endlessly. Carlisle has seen everything supernatural in their lives that Jasper had not seen himself and Eleazar had only encountered a few witches that had been turned. Both had heard stories, about witches, werebeast's, fairies and even a dragon during their stay in Volterra and retold them to Jasper.

None of what he knew about the 'others' matched up with anything they told him, and even with all the extra information I had it still didn't give me any answers. Alice told him that no matter how hard he looked he was not going to find the answer. She told him about the vision of our family and the Denials eight years in the future spending the holidays with Renée and what appeared to be her family, that we were happy together. But, he still was not giving up, he searched online for anything he could find and ordered dozens of books.

I have been so lost in Jaspers thoughts that I didn't notice Tanya until she sat next to me on the piano bench. She slipped her arm around my waist and leaned her head against my shoulder. I shifted uncomfortably and she tightened her arms around me as I continued to play.

"Tanya," I sigh irritably.

"What, Edward? We're the only ones in the house without significant others, would it really be such a hardship to spend some time with me? I just want to spend time with you," she replies coyly.

She was blocking her thoughts but I could see where she was going with this without hearing her thoughts.

"It's no hardship, you know I enjoy your company, but I'm not looking for the same things out of our friendship as you."

"Who says I'm looking for anything, Edward. I truly just want to spend time with someone who does not want to rush back to someone else," Tanya huffs. "Kate's whole life revolves around Garrett now, it's like I lost my sister, and he's not even here and still she can't stop focusing on him." She grumbled. "And Irina has Laurent for the time being, and is all too delighted keeping him busy so he won't figure out that we're on to him. I just want to sit here and listen to you play and maybe talk about what has you thinking so hard lately."

"I'll play for you but I need some room, move over a bit." I counter.

"I'd rather stay like this, how about we talk instead?" She says with a sweet smile.

"Tanya – please. I want to keep playing . . ." I start, but I stop as I see Alice's vision, Rose persuaded Kate to go after Garrett without warning him and they are on their way to the airport hoping to catch the first flight out to Boise. "Excuse me, Tanya, I need to make a phone call." I stand abruptly and dash out into the dark.

**_G - P.O.V._**

I sit leaning against a tree trunk waiting for the sun to come up and speaking softly, even though it seems no one is listening, but I know that Bree hears me. She's sitting inside the tent while Bella and Zora sleep; Dermott warned me that this was the norm for her. Just like he told me that the only way she'd feed was if it was brought to her. She has to be the oddest newborn ever.

The only information she gave them was that she's seventeen, ran away from home a few weeks ago and her name is Bree Tanner. She refused to say why she left home or where her home was.

I wish I had Edward's gift just so I could know what's going on in her mind so I could find a way to help her somehow. Apparently she has never been overly social but became even more withdrawn when Huilen flew into a rage over Nate's message. Huilen feels awful and believes that perhaps Bree was abused while human. While she had been terrified when Huilen raged, she did not run away. Instead she moved to stand between Huilen and Bella and Zora, dropping instinctively into a defensive crouch.

I have been speaking to her for a few hours. Telling her the same stories I told Kate about some of the more entertaining things we've done as a family.

My phone vibrates in my pocket stopping me in the middle of my story about us playing paintball in Wisconsin. Seeing it's Edward, I answer quickly.

"Hey, Edward."

"Alice just got a vision of Rosalie dropping Kate off at the airport; she'll be on the first flight out. I just wanted to give you a head's up she is on her way to find you."

Bree hisses.

"Are you guys all right, I thought it was going to be just you, Isabella and Aurora there?" He sounds almost as on edge as I would be if I found a newborn with my family.

"Umm yeah – it seems Nate didn't call and talk to anyone here before we spoke, and they adopted a newborn vamp since we last spoke." I chuckle trying to make light of the situation.

"Well, maybe it's a good thing Kate is coming then?" He sounded hesitant, "If you guys need more help . . ."

Bella screams in her sleep cut him off.

"Mom – No." Then she started sobbing loudly.

"What's wrong with Isabella?" He asked frantically as I dropped the phone and dashed into the tent.

Bree snarled at me as I entered, Bella seemed to still be asleep but Zora was up and already trying to wake her.

"Shh - you're okay, come on, Bells, wake up." She said in a soothing voice while grabbing her hand.

Bree sat next to Bella gently stroking her hair. Bella's eyes opened but she still seemed out of sorts, murmuring "No" over and over. Bree gave Bella a soft shake, and woke her up. Zora and Bella both had tears rolling down their faces. Bella shook her head like she was trying to clear it as she sat up in her sleeping bag.

"Sorry, just another nightmare. I'm fine now, I promise." Bella said shyly.

"They're getting worse. It helps if you talk about them, well, it did for me anyway." Bree whispered so softly that I'm sure I was not meant to hear her.

"Thanks, Bree, maybe later." Bella mused with a small smile.

Then I heard my phone vibrating again outside of the tent.

"Sorry, Edward."

"Is she alright?" he demanded.

"She's fine, just a nightmare." I mumbled as the girls walk out of the tent and Bella blushed bright red.

"I could hop on the next flight, and be there in a few hours. If you guys need help, I'll leave now." He rambled, making me snicker.

"She is fine, really, just a bad dream. I'd tell you if we needed help. Thanks for warning me about Kate coming - I'll talk with you later – bye."

"Okay – ladies, what's the plan for our morning?" I ask.

Zora lets out a sigh and answers, "We have to check the voicemail then . . ." she shrugs as she trails off.

Bella retrieved her phone from the tent and turned it on.

"I have an email and a voicemail, which one do you guys want first?" Bella questions.

"Voicemail," Zora blurts out. Bella nods and punches in her password and put the phone on speaker.

_"Hey – we're still heading northwest, Albuquerque tonight. He told everyone to feed heavily so we can start training for the fight when we get back. I worked with Dean, Warren and Adam before we fed to show them defensive moves. I still don't have a plan that will work to get away before the fight but Dean will change sides with me when we get there. My feelings about asking Adam or Warren to do the same fluctuate too much, so I can't ask them. You all still haven't changed the greeting, so I guess that means you don't have any ideas that will help – I hope I'm on the right track. Love you, miss you." _

"We need to change the greeting or maybe one of us should answer next time she calls." Zora says after we hear Renee's message.

"Yeah – I think Garr should answer and talk to her." Bella mused, her brow wrinkled in concentration. "Maybe - we don't tell her everything, just that you know Jasper and will be there for the fight. Do you think that Dean could scream and not stun you guys?"

"I'm not sure if he has enough control for that yet. I'll tell Renée to have him try but don't get your hopes up, it could be years before he gets that sorta control." I answered.

"We need to know more about his power; she hasn't said much about it just that whoever is in front of him gets stunned when he screams. I mean, how close does he have to be for it to work? What would happen if he gets attacked? He could scream accidentally and take out everyone in front of him no matter whose side they're on." Zora noted.

Bree remained silent while the three of us discussed ways for Renée to try to help Dean get his power under control or at least test it somewhat so that we knew what to expect from him at the fight.

After a few minutes, Bella asked an interesting question. "Do you think it's a physical power or mental? Most powers are just an illusion, right? We don't know if he has ever tried to use it, what if it only works, subconsciously, like when he is threatened or in pain? That would be really hard to control in a fight."

"If it's physical it's like a dog whistle and you guys could stop him just by wearing earplugs. They would change the pitch so you shouldn't be affected." Bree mumbled softly.

"You're right, Bree!" Zora exclaimed. "And that would be so easy to test. If it's a subconscious thing, Jasper can just send him peace and serenity or something, and it won't work."

I chuckled. "I doubt it's that easy if it's a mental power but Jasper could help and Bree is right, if it's physical that could be an easy fix." I smiled at her but she looked away.

"Let's forward the voicemail and you can text the Cullens to see if they have any advice about Dean's power. Who emailed you, Bells?" Zora asked. Bella quickly checked her phone.

"It was just Hector, nothing major, he ran into the Amazon's and they asked him to send us their well wishes." Bella replied with a warm smile.

We spent the rest of the morning playing ridiculous games that Zora suggested, Twenty Questions, I've Never and Two Truths One Lie. I felt like I was a girl in a bad teen movie or an afterschool special, but Bree did open up a bit. We found out she was from Nevada and had never left the state until she ran away from home. She graduated high school already and had planned on going to Montana State for elementary education.

I watched Bree throughout the morning; I have never seen a young vampire behave the way she does. She still had all of her human mannerisms. She fidgeted, blinked, shifted her weight and picked at her cuticles but unlike the other vampires she did it all without a thought. The Cullens are the only other vampires I know who act human without thought, even Dermott and Huilen only keep up the human façade in front of humans.

One time a human came too close, I was getting ready to tell Bree to hold her breath when she sprung to her feet, ran to a nearby river and dove in fully clothed. When she emerged ten minutes later, she looked sheepishly at me, shrugged and told me she couldn't smell anything under water. I tried to tell her how amazed I was by her control but she just waved me off like it was no big deal.

*~o~*

We hear Kate approaching from the south. Bella and Zora smile widely before taking Bree by the hand and dashing into the tent. I'm still nervous about Kate seeing Bella, so they chose to stay hidden so that we could introduce them to Kate one at a time, starting with Zora.

Kate burst into the clearing, where they have set up camp, and I feel whole again. Just the sight brings relief from the constant need to return to her, I'm sure I wouldn't have made it the full six days without her. I pull her into a hug as soon as she is within reach. We hold on to each other tightly and I realize all the clichéd lines in movies and books are true.

She kisses me deeply; I feel her smiling as she pulls back and mutter against her lips. "I missed you."

"Me too, more than you know. I know you said it wasn't a good time to meet them but . . . I just couldn't stay away. Rose said, well, you know how she's been with everything – I let her convince me to come after you." Kate tells me softly. "She even pulled the 'he could be in danger' card; I know it's not true but . . ."

"It's fine, I'm glad you're here. I don't know what I was thinking when I thought I could stay away from you for six days. I'm pretty sure they were shocked you weren't with me from the start," I say as Zora giggles in the tent.

Kate frowns at me. "Why are they hiding then?"

"I need you to trust me," she nods "it's better this way. What do you hear?"

She rolls her eyes "Heartbeats, two of them. Why are we doing this? You already told me about them, I know they aren't vampires."

"You're right, but still humor me. What do you smell?"

"Three scents other than you, one vampire and two non-vampires." She huffs. "You said it was just Bella and Zora here." She states with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah – well, that's what I was told but it seems Nate didn't have all the facts. Bree joined the family recently and because Nate was avoiding Huilen's wrath he didn't know about her."

"Okay" she shrugs indifferently; just wait till she realizes how young Bree is.

The tent rustles and Zora steps out. Zora walks at human pace to Kate and me. Zora smiles shyly, her eyes locked on Kate.

"Hello, I'm Aurora Grace. It's lovely to meet you, Kate."

"It's good to meet you as well, I have heard so much about you and your family." Kate responded, raising her hand to shake Zora's. She gasped in shock when their hands meet. "Wow – Garrett told me you guys ran warm, but you're so much warmer than humans." Kate mutters.

Zora just smiles and nods her head. "Come on out and meet Kate, Bree."

Bree is out of the tent and standing before us in a flash of movement. She looks Kate straight in the eye – checking the color I imagine – before dropping her gaze to the ground. Mumbling a quick "Hi."

"Oh, Hello!" Kate responds, eyeing the newborn carefully.

"She has amazing control; we'll tell you all about her later. Now - I really need you to remember what you hear and smell for this last one." I whisper for Kate's ears only. "All right – Bella," I say in my normal voice.

Bella steps out of the tent, Kate lets out a hiss and steps backwards into my embrace. "Please, don't run. Just meet her." I say swiftly.

Bella's smile falls but she still moves cautiously towards us.

"Hello, Kate, I'm so happy to meet you."

"How old are you?" Kate blurts. "Sorry, it's just – you're not what I expected."

"It's okay, believe me; Peter and Charlotte's reaction was worse. I'm almost two." Bella answered as Kate's grip on my hand tightens painfully.

"I'll be seven this year, that's when we stop aging." Zora explains.

"I just – I'm sorry it's so hard to look at you and not think of the Immortal children. I hear your heart and can smell that you're not a vampire, but physically . . ." Kate stammers.

Bella replies calmly. "We understand what the sight of . . ."

"No, you don't," Kate hisses. "You've never seen your loved one burned to ash as she comforts a true monster in her arms." Bree moves to stand closer to Bella and Zora, watching Kate closely.

"No - you're right, we haven't." Bella sadly states.

"But, as you can tell, we aren't Immortal Children, we grow, we eat, we sleep and our hearts beat. We weren't changed; we have always been what we are and always will be. Garrett is our family and now you are too." Zora insisted.

"You're right, it's just, I knew you were different but I never imagined Bella to be just a little girl, from Garrett's stories I never would have guessed." Kate countered. I watched Bella roll her eyes and clench her jaw tightly, but Zora snickered.

"Yeah, well, that our Bells, she gets more middle-aged every day." Zora giggled and then looked at Bella and saw the fury in her eyes. "She's no little kid, believe me she's just as smart as you and I, for now she's just stuck in the body of a seven year old."

The rest of the afternoon passed uneventfully. They all got along well after the first meeting, although Kate continued to watch Bella carefully. It wasn't until nightfall that we spoke with Alice, Jasper and Edward about Dean and his power. Apparently Alice had a vision of Dean stunning everyone in a warehouse, even those who stood behind him, when a fight had broken out today. We had no clue how he did it or if it was on purpose. We tried to use Alice's visions to guide us, as we came up with ways for Renee to work with Dean's power but she couldn't get anything concrete.

Kate joked with Jasper about his new hobby, which gave the girls a good laugh. They assured him he would not find them in any book he could get online. Bella told Jasper she would send him a copy of an unpublished book, written by a shape shifter that had been around for over a thousand years, but not until she edited out the truth about them.

"If your secret isn't in there why would I want it?" Jasper growled over Bella's laughter.

"Well, – it won't tell you what we are but it will tell you what we aren't. Then you can cross some of your guesses off your list." Zora giggled.

"Jasper, just let it go! I've already told you, you won't figure it out, at least not now." Alice hissed, and then mumbled something about eight years.

"What was that, Alice?" Bella asked with concern.

"I've had a few visions of, what I think is, your family. Eight Christmases from now we will all be together, at least that's what I think. I see Renée, Dean, Bree and several other vampires I don't know, the Denials, our family and six blurry people. I'm pretty sure that it's you guys, since I can't see you clearly." Alice said in a rush, ignoring Jasper's protests.

"Six, are you sure?" exclaimed Zora, clearly shocked.

"Yes – six blurry people, Renée, Dean, Bree and four unknown vampires. Well, unknown to me anyway and Edward won't tell me if he recognized any of them."

"You can tell her, Edward," Zora declares. "I'm dying to know who all is there. Can you tell anything about the blurry people, are they male or female, what color hair do they have, anything like that?"

"Dermott and Huilen are there, I don't recognize the other two, they are both males," Edward stated. I was surprised to hear that he did not recognize the others; because of his mind reading I would assume that none of us currently know the vampires in question.

"As for the blur's three boys and three girls. A blond female, a red-haired boy and girl, two brown-haired males and a brown-haired female. That's all I can tell, really, you guys, whatever you are, are hard to see." Alice answered.

"Thank you for telling us, Alice and I really hope you're right." Bella said as Zora just sat dumbfounded.

I ended the phone call shortly after that. The second I hit end, Zora squealed loudly, jumped to her feet, and began dancing around like an idiot.

"Two new boys, Bella, they could be our mates!"

"Or they could be our brothers," Bella mutters softly, Kate's eyes snapped to Bella's face.

"Brothers?" Kate asked at the same time Zora snapped. "Don't be such a pessimist, Bells."

"I'm not. I'm being realistic; so far all of us are related."

"Whatever, I'm going hunting. Bree, you want to come with me or would you like me to bring you something back?" Zora asked, Bella nodded her head trying to encourage Bree.

"I'll go with you guys if you want, Bree," Kate added.

"Okay," Bree murmured, then she looked at Kate. "You'll stop me if . . . ya know?"

"Of course."

The three of them darted off, hand in hand with Bree in the middle.

*~o~*

Bella had just fallen back to sleep after another nightmare. This time she growled in her sleep and hissed out 'Stay back, it's the Volturi', then a few seconds later she mumbled the names Jane, Alec, and Demetri. She woke with wide, panicked eyes, and was trembling in fear.

Kate was shaken by Bella's latest nightmare, then again we all were; the mere mention of the Volturi was enough to set her off. Two nights of hearing Bella's nightmares had Kate worried.

"I'm telling you, Garrett! I think it's a power – each night she says things in her sleep, then in the morning something similar is mentioned from either Renée or when we talk to the others," Kate whispered harshly.

"Kate, she hasn't ever had nightmares when I stayed with them before, so I don't know," I say in defeat. We have been going back and forth about it for almost five minutes. "Even if you're right, who cares? Right now, your home is full of powers, what difference does it make?"

"Simple, they haven't told you about it. They are basically lying by omission. Jasper's right, they can't be trusted, you don't even know what they are!" She hissed loudly, just as Bella's small form appeared at my side.

With a frown on her face, Bella spoke, "I have never lied to Gar, I told him when we first met that I couldn't tell him what we are. Then, it was because I didn't know him well enough, now it's to keep us safe. The more vampires that know about my family and I, the more likely it is that word of us will get back to the Volturi, if, no - when that happens the Volturi will come after us. You told us the story of them sparing your life because you had no knowledge of Vasiili – I had heard the story before. It was the Volturi version of the story, but still I always thought that by not telling what we are it would help save others and us in the end.

"You clearly don't trust us yet; I understand you only met us three days ago. There are some things I can't, and I do mean can't, tell you, but I'll answer what I can, you just have to ask. Try to understand that what I don't tell you is for the safety of my family, that includes Garrett and you too," Bella says firmly.

"You won't tell me what you are?" Kate huffs.

"I'm sorry, Kate, I can't. The more people who know what we are, the higher the risk is to us all, you included."

Kate rolls her eyes in response then asks, "Do you have a power?"

"You know, no one has ever asked me that. Yes, I do. Only Nate, Zora and Zafrina know the truth about it, I'll tell you both but . . . if what we think about the Volturi is true they would do anything to have my power," Bella mutters sadly as she paces back and forth nervously.

My curiosity piqued, I've never asked any questions about the 'others' after my first few days with them. I always thought Bella was different but never put much thought into why, it just never mattered to me. Bella smiles brightly at me for some odd reason.

"Well, what's your power?" Kate questions, seeming frustrated.

"Umm okay, my first po . . ." Bella starts, but Kate's growl causes her to stop.

"No one or nothing has more that one power," Kate rejected.

"Just cause Eleazar says it, doesn't make it true," Bella states firmly. "He can't speak of things he doesn't know; he wasn't hiding it from you."

"Let's start from my beginning. Kate, try to shock me," Bella says as she stops pacing, putting me on edge.

"Bella - no," I hiss, as Kate walks forward. "Kate, don't!"

"She can't hurt me," Bella giggles, causing Kate to glare at her.

Kate continues to walk towards Bella, but stopped suddenly three feet from Bella.

Bella is wearing a wicked smile, as she says, "Hey, Garrett, catch."

Then Kate is flying towards be me, as if someone pushed her. Kate lands softly in my arms but springs towards Bella almost as soon as she lands.

"What was that?" Kate hisses.

"My physical shield," Bella answers smugly. "Come try again."

Bella stretches her hand out to Kate. Kate approaches slowly, but when she can reach Bella, she grabs her hand, moving at full speed. Kate waits a full second before dropping Bella's hand.

"Mental shield," Bella says. "Those two I've always had. Dermott, Huilen and Renée have only seen me use my physical shield once, they think I have no control over it and don't know about the rest. I gained Renee's power when she was finished her change; her power persuaded me to keep it a secret from everyone. I make the choice to tell my family about it every day, but the feelings I get are so dreadful that I can't. I have never gone against Renee's power. I told Nate about the shields and having Renee's power a few days before my first birthday, when I finally had good _feelings_ about telling and Zora only found out very recently.

"So, you have three powers?" Kate asks in awe.

"Nope – I have my two shields, plus the power of any vampire that comes in contact with my mental shield."

"You have my power, now?" Kate shrieked. At the same time I finally put it all together, exclaiming "The dreams, you have Alice's power."

"Yes, to both of you,"

"But, Alice has never met you. How did you get her power?" I ask Bella while Kate still glares at her.

"That's kind of your fault," she answers.

"My fault?"

"Yup – I was too busy hunting to notice you, so now I always keep my mental shield expanded as far as I can. I can tell who or what's under it, I'll show you."

I nod in agreement. She looks to Kate, then asks, "Do you want to see what I'm talking about?"

"How can you 'show' us?" Kate asks

"I can project an illusion into your mind – it can only affect your sight and hearing. I'll just use the sight part, you'll still be able to hear," Bella replies tentatively.

"Just show Garrett, he can tell me."

As soon as the words leave Kate's mouth, I see Kate and myself with an aura like glow surrounding us. I can see the sparks of color from Zora and Bree nearby even though I can't see them, there are three more sparks of color in the distance. I keep a running commentary for Kate, I can see the look of confusion on her face as I try to explain it. I hear Bella giggling and know she is in front of me but can't see her, it's so odd. I wonder if she left herself out of the projection on purpose.

"No, I'm just showing you what my mind sees, when I focus on my shield," Bella answers my unspoken question.

"Edward's power?"

Then I see snow covered trees flying past me. I see a new spark under the shield, and suddenly, I hear Edwards voice, he's ranting about the lack of quiet in his mind. But then, Bella stops the illusion and I can see with my own eyes again.

"Wow!" I utter as I shake my head. "Kate, you gotta try that. I know I told you what I saw but . . . just let her show you something."

"Fine," Kate mutters.

"What do you want to see?" Bella asks.

"Just show me the same thing you showed Garr, I guess."

"Wait, does it have to be a memory?" I ask.

"No, if I can imagine it, you can see it." Bella giggles and I hear thunder, bright blue lightning cuts across the sky, and I watch as it rains purple flowers. I still see Bella in front of me, I turn to Kate when she gasps and see her as well. Just as fast as the illusion started, Bella shuts it off.

"So, you copied all the powers of my family and the Cullens?" Kate inquires.

"No, I don't have Eleazar's and I didn't intentionally 'copy' any of them. Edward came under my shield when I was hunting in Denali at Christmas; he was hearing Nate and Zora's minds while they were waiting for me. A few days later I used his power to listen in on your family home, making sure he didn't tell anyone what he had seen. I kept my shield tight around just Nate and I so didn't pick up any new powers. Nate was convinced I'd have a nervous breakdown if I had Alice's power. It wasn't till we were in Seattle that I picked up Alice and Jasper's power. They were making sure Riley knew the Cullens were leaving town and heading to Denali, we were at the mall, a few miles away, getting more camping stuff. I got yours when you got here." Bella answers.

"I'm sorry," Kate mutters. Bella looks momentarily confused then gasps.

"Oh – no, I wasn't listening to your thought then; I figured Garrett trusted you so I could as well." Bella answers flatly.

The three of us talk longer about her powers. Mostly she explains how the shields work and that she keeps her other powers 'off' most of the time. Bella stresses that no one, especially Edward, can find out about her powers yet.

Kate asks about Bella's dreams, and Bella explains that somehow Alice's power gets away from her while she is sleeping sometimes. While she sleeps she has been getting visions, they're mostly about Renée and Nate. Tonight's was about Renée, James, Victoria, and who she believes are Jane, Alec and Demetri. She's not sure what the end result was because we woke her, but we all figure Alice would have called if it were bad.

It's almost sunrise when Kate and my phones chime with an incoming text message.

_The army will arrive just before dawn the day after tomorrow. Come back ASAP, we need to plan! - Alice_

* * *

**Thanks for reading! *****I'll send you a preview, if you review.* ****  
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**? For the readers - should hybrids be able to have children?**


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